Too Many Words in Regards to Ghost Boys
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: A 100 one shot series. Some of them will be AU, others based on the canon, though most sans PP. No specific pairings, though some romance may show up. All of them will probably contain way too many words. Currently, They've Got Some Questions They Want to Ask: He had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to avoid them forever.
1. Mist

Author's Note: So apparently I am trying to be like the cool kids and doing a series of one hundred one shots, this being the first one! It just looks kind of fun to do, ahahahaha~ It's a bit longer than I had planned, OOPS. I guess I just write more than I used to, but I guess that's a good thing? Increased quality, maybe. So, one shot series! Some of these I think will actually tie into some of my own stories, like bonus material, but others not so much. We'll see! They'll be noted specifically as such if I do, though.

These will probably be uploaded, one at a time, in between proper story updates. Danny Phantom is not mine, as always~

* * *

Mist

Characters: Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton

Summery: It was just the icing on the cake compared to all the other strange things Maddie knew about her son. But perhaps it could also be a pathway that lead her to the truth.

* * *

Danny didn't think she knew, but Maddie had noticed it.

She wasn't quite sure when she had first seen it, there were probably other times, times when she'd passed it off to the room temperature or a trick of the light. But at some point, she realized that every so often, her only son, her precious baby boy, did something quite puzzling. She wasn't sure it was something he did on purpose, given how surprised (and sometimes quite irritated) he looked every time it happened, but it was something of which she had taken note.

After all, what reason could there be for her son to be breathing out a strange, blue mist? Perhaps mist wasn't the right word for it, but it sounded fairly close, so it was what she went with.

She hadn't mentioned it to Jack, and she wasn't really sure why. She felt that Jazz knew, because sometimes when it happened when they were together, the eyes of her children met in a knowing look that Maddie didn't understand.

But Maddie Fenton was a smart woman, and she was good at putting two and two together. Since the first time she had really noticed it, she had been trying to place what happened before and after the strange mist came out. It didn't take her long to realize that Danny would often run off right after said mist came out, but the thing that caught her attention more were the ghosts.

It wasn't every time, but oftentimes when she saw that mist, there were ghosts about. She felt that they must have some sort of relation to the mist, though what, she couldn't seem to figure out. It was just another strange thing, that sat on top of a pile of other strange things about her seventeen year old son. He had changed so much since his freshman year of high school, that Maddie wasn't sometimes sure that she knew who the face staring at her across the kitchen table was.

It troubled her to be honest.

It was one day, as she was lost in thought, tapping her fingers against the kitchen table, taking a break from her latest project, that her son stumbled into the kitchen, his right eye a nasty shade of black and purple. He barely noticed her at first, and stumbled over to the refrigerator, gulping down almost an entire gallon of milk.

"Use a glass, Danny." Maddie scolded him lightly, setting down her screwdriver. He looked startled to realize that she was there, dropping the milk carton, and spilling the contents over the floor. Maddie heaved a sigh and got up, grabbing the paper towels- it wasn't the first time nor likely the last that this had happened.

"Oh Danny, you need to be more careful." Maddie said, picking up the carton and tossing it in the garbage.

"Sorry mom." He smiled sheepishly at her, taking the paper towels. "I'll clean it up." He said, shutting the refrigerator door. He knelt down, yanking a few paper towels off the roll, and began to sop up the mess. After a few silent minutes, he glanced up at his mother, looking somewhat puzzled. "You're not going to ask about the eye?" He asked her, a look of mild confusion on his face. Usually whenever he got an injury this prominent from his ghost fighting, his parents would always ask about it.

Today, however, his mother was lost in thought, which Danny didn't really think was a good thing. She had been looking at him oddly for the past several days, with that distant look in her eyes, and he was starting to wonder if she suspected something.

"It's not like you ever tell us the truth anyways." Maddie said, the words escaping from her lips before she even knew she had spoken them. She winced as she saw her son flinch at her words, and realized that was honestly a terrible thing for her to say. That was something _Pamela _would say, in her endless attempts to guilt trip her daughter into letting her mold her into a perfect, miniature image of herself. Those were not the words of Maddie Fenton, kind and caring, and above all understanding mother.

"I'm sorry Danny. I didn't exactly mean that." She said quickly, but the damage had been done.

"I'm not- I mean I'm not doing anything bad, mom." Danny said after a moment, tossing some of the paper towels into the garbage, not meeting his mother's eyes. "It's not like I'm in a gang or anything, or doing drugs." He told her. He knew the rumors that were flying around school, he knew what some of his teachers thought he was involved in. It wasn't that he blamed them, all that probably made a lot more sense than the idea that he had been fighting ghosts as the town's superhero, Phantom, for the past three years.

"I know I've probably disappointed you and dad in a lot of things." Danny continued. "I mean, I _flunked _junior year." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "I tried to get my grades up, I really did, and I'm doing better the second time around, but-"

"Danny, honey." Maddie leaned down, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You don't need to apologize to me. Your father and I are _not _disappointed in you, even with that."

"But?" Danny chanced a glance at her. "I'm sensing a but there."

Maddie sighed. "I'll ask you one question for now, Danny, and I want you to tell me the truth. Is that okay?"

Danny frowned, thinking it over, the spilled milk all forgotten. "Well, I guess, maybe." He frowned, having a feeling where this was going. "It depends on what the question is."

"Why do you breathe out that blue mist sometimes? And don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about." Maddie inquired, deciding to start there. Oh, there were other odd traits she had noticed- her son healed far too fast, that black eye of his was like to be gone in a few hours. At some point, without her noticing, he had gotten more physically fit, and although she could tell he was holding back, she had a feeling that he was both stronger and faster than some of the actual athletes in his class. There was the fact that he felt ice cold all the time, though he always swore that he was fine. Not to mention the fact that most of their ghost hunting equipment would key into him.

And of course, the injuries.

_This _question though, Maddie was under the impression that he would answer, and that was why she had asked it.

"Oh well." Danny blinked, this not being the question he had expected her to ask. She knew about his ghost sense? Not what it was at least, but she had seen it enough times to know that it was a thing. He chewed on his lip a little, mulling over what to tell her- he did promise her the truth, hadn't he? But his mother was smart, and one truth could lead into another and trigger a chain reaction.

Danny felt that he had probably lost his chance to tell his parents about being Phantom years ago. And there was still a part of him that didn't want his parents to know the truth, too afraid to find out what their reactions would be. Jazz thought he was being a fool, but Danny wasn't taking his chances.

Finally, he came to a decision, heaving a sigh.

Maybe he _was _being a fool. If he had told his parents about being Phantom earlier, he might not be repeating junior year. "I-it's a ghost sense." He said quickly, so fast, that his words ran right into each other.

Maddie blinked, understanding him nonetheless. "A... ghost sense?" She frowned. That was something she had suspected, but why would her son have a ghost sense? It wasn't that a human with a sixth sense was all that odd, but he hadn't had one before, had he?

Then it clicked, and she snapped her fingers. "The portal accident?" She asked him.

"Yeah." Danny said, looking down at the floor, making a show of wiping away some of the spilled milk he hadn't gotten to yet. "I can sense ghosts. I thought it was weird, so I didn't want to tell you."

"It's more than that though, isn't it?" Maddie asked him directly, putting a hand over her son's, ceasing it's motion. Cold, so cold, she thought, almost like a corpse. The comparison stuck in her mind, and Maddie frowned, that pesky idea she always had floating in the back of her mind tugging on her again.

"I-" Danny paused, flinching underneath her touch, though he didn't move his hand. "It is." He admitted after a moment. "It's a lot more. I'm just- I'm just not sure I'm ready to tell you about it yet, mom. I'm sorry. I know you two deserve the truth, but it's... kind of hard to say." He admitted.

_Ah._ Maddie thought, an unreadable expression crossing over her face. He hadn't actually told her anything, but Maddie felt as if her questions had been answered. "When will you be ready to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure." Danny confessed. "Someday. Soon, I hope."

Maddie considered this for a long time, silent and unmoving. Finally, she gave her son a small smile, leaning forward to kiss his forehead, a motherly sign of affection. "Well, your father and I will be waiting for you when you do, Danny." She told him, standing up, letting go of his hand. "You do know that we love you, right?"

"I know." Danny smiled a little, getting up himself, tossing away the rest of the used paper towels, and setting the rest of the roll back on the counter. "I know you do." He said. "I... I love you too." He added after a moment, looking a little sheepish.

Maddie smiled back at him. "And Danny?" She said, catching her son's attention again. "I know you would never do anything bad. Your father and I never believed those silly rumors, not for a second."

Danny's smile grew a little. "Thanks mom. That means a lot to me." He told her. "Look, I'm going to go do my homework. I want to try and take this second junior year as seriously as possible."

"Let me know if you need any help." Maddie told him.

"I will." Danny promised her, heading out of the kitchen. He paused outside the door, opening his mouth to say something, only to change his mind and continue on to his room.

Maybe he would be able to tell her sooner, rather than later. That chain of thought was interrupted though, when halfway up the stairs, a wisp of blue mist escaped his lips, and he heaved a deep sigh.

"Here we go again." He shook his head, quickly ducking into his room to transform into Phantom and face this newest threat, whatever it might be.

* * *

Author's Note: Next keyword is stars~


	2. Stars

Author's Note: One shot number two! It follows after the first one, I guess. I really like me some Danny and Jazz sibling bonding, so I wanted to include at least one amongst the one shots!

* * *

Stars

Characters: Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton

Summery: She always knew where to find him when he was lost in thought.

* * *

"I thought I would find you up here."

Danny Fenton glanced up to meet the eyes of his older sister, Jazz, and grinned a little at her. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he crossed his legs in front of him. He was sitting on top of the Emergency Ops Center, a mostly forgotten telescope next to him. "Hey Jazz. Weren't you studying?" He asked her.

"I was just brushing up a bit. It's my first Christmas holiday away from college, I can't spend it locked up in my room." Jazz told him, sitting down next to him, smiling as she handed her brother a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "Here. It's a bit chilly out, I thought you might want something to warm you up." She told him, setting her own next to her as she pulled her coat closer about her.

"Thanks, but I don't really need it." Danny told her, though he took it gratefully anyways. One did not just turn down free hot chocolate, after all. "You know, ice powers and half ghost and all that. Might as well be spring to me." He laughed a little, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "Oh, this is good." He said, after a second. "Not the kind mom normally buys."

"I brought it home as a gift from college." Jazz told him, grinning. "It's good, isn't it? I brought you guys back a whole crate of the stuff, if dad doesn't drink it all in the next three days, you should be set for awhile."

"He probably will, if mom lets him." Danny chuckled, setting aside the mug. "Are you sure you want to sit out with me, though? You're already shivering a little."

"I'll be fine, a couple minutes out in the cold isn't going to kill me." Jazz told him. "It's even colder up where I'm going to college anyways. It's pretty easy to pick out the students that are from warmer climates around this time of year." She joked.

"Everything fine there?" Danny asked her. "Nothing ghostly followed you up, right?" He asked.

"I've run into some ghosts." Jazz admitted. "But nothing to worry about. You know, just harmless ghosts like the Dairy King." She assured him. "I think mom and dad would like my new roommate though, she's really into the occult and magic and things. I think she really respects mom."

"Huh. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear that." Danny laughed, before lying back down on the roof of the Ops Center, gazing up at the night sky. It was a clear night for once, not a cloud in the sky to block the stars, a full moon illuminating everything on the ground.

"She was. She wants me to bring her to visit during spring break." Jazz laughed. "I told her I'd think about it. Probably Sam would like her to." She glanced over at her brother, a sly grin on her face. "How is that going, by the way?"

"Fine, if you ignore the fact that every other date we go on is interrupted by ghosts. At least Tucker's around to deal with the easy ones like the Box Ghost, and Valerie takes off some of the slack when she can get away from her dad." Danny laughed a little. "Although, most of our dates recently have been study dates." He admitted. "Little awkward not being in the same grade as your same age friends."

"I'm sorry Danny, if I'd hadn't been so busy getting ready for college, I could have helped you out more." Jazz frowned, clearly not liking the fact that her little brother had actually flunked a year of school.

"Not your fault." Danny told her. "It was just a thing that happened. I'll pass this year, though." He assured her. "Actually, though, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is that why you were up here, watching the stars?" Jazz inquired. It was a habit her brother had been developing as of late, whenever he was lost in thought, he would head up to the top of the Emergency Ops Center with his telescope and do some stargazing. Sometimes he could be out here for hours, provided that there wasn't a ghost attack to distract him from his thoughts. It seemed to help him, and Jazz was happy he'd found a way to help focus his thoughts, she had been worried about him for awhile.

Of course, it was also in a way, a bitter reminder that he would most likely never be able to live his dreams of being an astronaut. Even if he managed to get his grades up, there was no way he would pass the medical check, not with him being half-ghost. Jazz and Tucker had done a pretty thorough study of Danny's vitals, physical stats, and other various things, before she had left for college. They thought it might be valuable information to have in case of a medical emergency. Normally, Danny healed pretty quickly, but who was to say that half-ghosts couldn't catch some strange sickness or something? If they were ever going to have any idea what was abnormal, they needed to know what the new normal for Danny was.

"Yeah, sort of." Danny laughed, holding up a hand, cupping it around the full moon. "It's about mom, actually."

"Are you going to tell her?" Jazz asked, looking down at her brother, taking a sip out of her mug, feeling the warmth rush through her body.

"I'm seriously thinking about it." Danny said. "She learned about the ghost sense, at least. I told her that much." He said. "Of course, that was also back at the start of the school year, and I haven't really said anything to her since. She hasn't asked, either. I think she's just waiting for me now."

"What about dad?" Jazz inquired.

"Dad... I don't know about dad quite yet." Danny frowned. "You know how he is though, he tends to be more oblivious than mom. And I think telling mom first might ease dad more into the idea of me being half-ghost... and also being Phantom. _That's_ the part I'm really worried about."

"Mm." Jazz nodded. "Well, I can't blame you, little brother. They're a bit easier on Phantom these days, but your reputation from your first year of ghost fighting still haunts you."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Well, I think you should, little brother. It would do you a world of good, and I don't think mom would reject you for it." Jazz told him. "It's what I've been saying all along, haven't I?" She asked.

"Yeah, I know." Danny grinned a little, a sheepish expression on his face. "You always have. I should listen to you more, sometimes." He admitted, then shot straight up. "A shooting star!"

"What?" Jazz wiped around, then heaved a pout. "Shoot, I missed it." She grumbled, looking a little upset. "Did you wish for anything, Danny?"

That question caused him to roll his eyes, glancing over towards Jazz. "Oh come on, I'm not a baby. Also I don't know if college has made you forget, but wishing around here isn't _exactly _what you want to do."

"Oh right, Desiree." Jazz laughed. "I had almost forgotten."

"Yeah, well, last week, she granted someone's wish to have super speed." Danny told her. "But forgot to include stopping in that wish. Thankfully, we dealt with it before the poor guy ran himself into the ground."

"Yikes." Jazz flinched. "Well, back on topic though- do you know what you want to say to mom?" She asked him.

"No idea." Danny frowned. "That's what I came up here to think about, actually." He said, sitting back up and taking another sip of his hot chocolate. "Do I just start out with showing her, because that's so much easier, or do I just break the news to her slowly and cut down on the shock? It's a tough call."

"Well, do you want to practice?" Jazz asked.

"I could probably use some practice." Danny confessed. "I've never actually had to _tell _anyone my secret. I have no idea how to even begin to do it."

"Well, I'm all ears, Danny." Jazz paused, as a cold wind blew, stirring up some fallen snow. "Or well, could we maybe do this inside?" She asked, looking a little flushed. "I'm not as good as you are with the cold, after all. As nice as the starry sky backdrop is..."

"Of course." Danny said, standing up, taking his mug with him and finishing it off in one large gulp. Grabbing his telescope, he took it off the stand and folded it up, tucking it underneath one arm. "I'd have a hard time explaining to mom and dad why I let my older sister turn into an icicle." He joked.

"Mm, that would put a damper in my studies." Jazz said, standing up and taking Danny's empty mug from him, still carefully holding hers. "If you need me to back you up when you talk with mom, I'm here for you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do." Danny said, flashing her a grin. "You've always been there for me, sis, ever since the whole Spectra thing, even if I haven't always known it. I... thanks."

"It's not a problem. That's what family's for, after all." Jazz told him simply.

Desiree aside, if there was something that Danny would have wished for off of the shooting star, it probably wouldn't have been for himself. As tempting as it was to wish for the success of his confession to his mother, or to wish to pass his junior year the second time around, he found himself thinking of his sister instead. If he would wish for something, it would probably be for the sake of her.

After all, even if she didn't seem to remember it, she had been the one to suggest stargazing to help calm his nerves. Even when he was annoyed with her, she always managed to help him out, even if he didn't realize it at the time. Honestly, sometimes he didn't know where he would be without Jazz.

It wasn't really something he fully understood until she had left for college. Whenever he needed someone to confide in, someone's shoulder to lean on, she had always been there. He had come to appreciate her a lot more when she wasn't around, and it was also why he had spent more time hunting for her Christmas present than anyone else's.

"You coming, Danny?" Jazz called out from inside of the Ops Center, and Danny jumped a little, having been lost in his thoughts.

"Coming!"

* * *

Authors Note: Next keyword is flowers!


	3. Flowers

Author's Note: Third one shot! This is actually sort of connected to an upcoming (not AU whaaaaattt) story, _Friends Forever,_ though not connected to the main plot line. Also, take the flower meanings here with a grain of salt, ahahaha. I could be misinformed on some of them. The next keyword is 'Shiny Things'! See y'all next update!

Danny Phantom is, as always, not mine.

* * *

Flowers  
Characters: Sam Manson, Dani Fenton

Summery: Forging new friendships can be made easier through the use of shared hobbies.

* * *

It was the first day of spring break, and also the first day of Danny's week long vacation with his mother. Determined to have a normal vacation with her son for a change, the woman had taken it upon herself to plan a _hopefully _evil plot free vacation. Although he resisted at first, eventually, Danny had relented, and decided to go with his mother. He had left early in the morning, and Sam and Tucker had seen him off.

Sam was also the welcome committee for someone coming to stay in Amity Park during the week, someone who would be spending the week with her. Tucker had work to do at his part time job at the computer store, so he wasn't available when Dani Phantom arrived in Amity Park, ready to hold down the fort while Danny Phantom was away.

Sam and Tucker knew about Danny's clone- or cousin, as she preferred being called, and Sam couldn't blame her, but had never really gotten much of a chance to speak with her. And Sam found herself being intrigued by the girl, so she had easily accepted Danny's request that she stay with her while he was away. It was lucky that her parents were away on business for the week as well, and that the household servants were rather good at keeping quiet when asked politely. Her parents would have no idea about their little guest, one that Sam was currently showing the house to.

"And this is my greenhouse!" Sam told the younger girl, grinning as she unlocked the doors to let them inside. Dani peered around, visibly impressed by the wide array of plants within it's confines. It was a rare thing that Sam and her parents agreed on, her mother was enthralled with the idea of her daughter actually having a 'girly' interest like gardening, and spared no expense to ensure that she had whatever she needed.

"I didn't think someone like you would be so interested in gardening." Dani said after a moment, picking up a pot which held an array of red daises. "Are these daises?" She asked her.

"They are! In the language of flowers, they mean beauty unknown to the possessor. In general, the daisy means innocence, but red daisies hold a special meaning." Sam told her. "Do you like flowers, Dani?" She asked.

"I didn't know flowers meant anything." Dani told her, setting the pot back down. "And I don't really know, to be honest." She frowned a little, uncertain. "I guess I think they're pretty. I don't know anything about them, though."

"Of course they do." Sam flashed a quick grin, glad that she caught the girl's interest. "Almost every flower in here has some sort of meaning." She told her, pointing over towards hibiscus flowers. "The hibiscus, for example means rare or delicate beauty. And over there, the snowdrop flowers can mean consolation or hope." Sam explained. "Well, there's more than one fixed meaning for some of these flowers, especially when you consider that the Japanese have their own language of flowers, called Hanakotoba."

"You sound like you know a lot about them." Dani observed, wandering around the greenhouse.

"You could say that. Growing flowers, and other plants is sort of my hobby." She told her. "I also grow my own food, because it's both economically sound and provides assurance that what I eat isn't touched by harmful pesticides."

"But aren't you rich?" Dani asked, looking back at Sam. "You could have no problem just buying whatever you want."

"It's true." The goth girl shrugged her shoulders. "But this way is better. Besides, tending to a garden teaches you respect for nature." She laughed a little. "Even if my passion for nature did get me brainwashed once. That was... embarrassing, to put it lightly."

"I heard about that." Dani couldn't help but grin a little. "Oh, there's sunflowers! Now those I know!" She brightened, heading over towards the tall flowers, which towered over her tiny thirteen year old body. "What do sunflowers mean, Sam?"

"Pure and lofty thoughts." Sam told her. "Or thereabouts."

"Is it cause they're so tall?" Dani grinned, glancing back at her.

"Could be." Sam shrugged her shoulders, joining her. "Not all flowers have pleasant meanings, though." She said, pointing to a hydrangea bush. "Hydrangea flowers mean heartlessness, for example, and lavender can just as easily mean distrust as it can devotion."

"Sounds complicated." Dani said with a small frown. "Are these flowers too?" She asked, peering at some closed up buds.

"Sure are. They're moon flowers though, so they only bloom at night." Sam explained. "They're pretty though. They mean 'dreaming of love.'"

"Did you plant them thinking about my cousin?" Dani asked, unable to help quirking a grin. Sam flushed bright red at this question, coughing to cover it up. "I'm a little less clueless than he is. I'm his clone you know, so I've got more than just a few of his memories. Don't worry, I won't tell him." She said, a sly expression on her face.

"Does that ever get weird, you know, having memories that aren't yours?" Sam asked.

"A little." Dani admitted after a second. "I want to be my own person, you know, but it's a bit difficult when you're supposed to be a clone of someone else. Even a gender flipped clone." She confessed.

"Hm." Sam frowned, considering this. "Well, it's sort of like this, Dani. Why were you surprised to find out I liked gardening and flowers?"

Dani blinked, considering the question. "Well, because you're goth. And flowers are kind of girly. You didn't seem like the type." She told her.

"Goth is just a label that people put on me, and while it's not one I object to, it doesn't define the whole of who I am." Sam told her, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm who I make myself be, and nothing else. Just like I'm not defined by 'goth' or by 'vegetarian', you aren't defined by being Danny's clone or by being half-ghost."

"Just because you're a clone doesn't mean you can't be your own person, Dani. You share DNA with Danny sure, but so do Jazz and his parents. Not as much, I admit." Sam said. "But they do. And DNA decides what a person looks like, if they're more prone to disease or have any disorders, and how fast or slow their metabolism is, but they don't define a person. The personality and interests of a person, as well as their actions are all that define a person."

"And you have different interests than Danny." Sam told her. "I've only been talking to you for a few minutes, and I can tell that much. Danny doesn't care about flowers at all." She laughed. "He got pretty bored when I tried to explain the language of flowers to him. Fell asleep, even. But it caught your interest, and you asked questions. That's a difference." She pointed out.

"And even in your similarities, you're still your own person. People can have similar interests, Tucker, Danny and I all like some of the same bands. It doesn't make us any less unique." Sam told her. "Similar interests are what help tie people together, what makes them friends. Or enemies, sometimes." She laughed.

"That's true, isn't it?" Dani brightened. "Maybe I was over thinking things." She said after a moment. Spotting a tree growing off to one side, she wandered over to it, Sam following along beside her. "What's this tree, then?" She asked her. "It's with your food planets, is it an apple tree or something?"

"Pear tree, actually." Sam told her. "Right now it only has blossoms, but eventually there will be ripe, juicy pears on it. If you like, I can call you when they ripen, and we can have some together. They're pretty tasty fresh off the tree."

"That sounds great!" Dani grinned. "Do the blossoms on the pear tree have any meaning, or do they have to be normal flowers to have them?" She asked.

"Oh, they have a meaning, alright." Sam smiled at her. "Pear blossoms mean 'lasting friendship'." Extending a hand towards the younger girl, she met her eyes. "So how about it Dani? You want to try being friends?" She asked her.

"I'd like that." Dani said after a moment, taking Sam's hand. "I think I'd really like that."


	4. Shiny Things

Author's Note: I had too much fun with this one shot. It was inspired in part by my dog, who also loves laser pointers. Danny Phantom, as always, does not belong to me! Next prompt is 'Fishing'.

* * *

Shiny Things

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Cujo

Summery: Well, she supposed she could safely add 'ghost dog trainer' to her resume now.

* * *

Things were different now that her parents knew her little brother's secret. It had made both her life, and Danny's life a lot easier for one. He had told his parents about Danielle, and they were both busy getting papers drawn up to have her formally become a member of the Fenton family. Her parents were clearly excited about that, her father was almost filled with glee about the idea of a new 'baby princess' to spoil rotten- and she figured he would, judging by the fact that they'd gone shopping for a few changes of clothes the other day, and had come back with the Fenton RV practically brimming with just about every outfit imaginable.

There was no more lying, no more secret keeping, and family life had become easier and less tense. Danny Phantom now had some extra help when it came to ghost fighting, and he could concentrate on school more, bringing his grades back up again.

These were all changes that Jazz had expected after her brother had come clean.

One she didn't expect was the dog.

Or _ghost _dog, rather.

Jazz wasn't entirely sure how Danny had convinced his parents to let him keep a ghost dog, but here they were. Or rather, here she was, watching the dog, currently in it's small, compact size, rolling around on it's back, little legs kicking up in the air. It was actually kind of cute, once you got past the fact that it was green, and it glowed.

She knew her little brother had always wanted a dog, but her parents had never let him get one, thinking that he wouldn't be responsible enough to take care of one. Well, after saving Amity Park several times, Jazz guessed that he had finally managed to convince them that he could be. That, and the fact that they wouldn't have to ever worry about feeding this one probably helped.

"Cujo." Jazz called out to the dog, clapping her hands. The dog let out a yap, coming to attention and getting it it's feet, it's tail wagging so hard the rest of it's butt wagged with it. The red head quirked a grin, reaching down to scratch it underneath the chin, and it relaxed, thumping one of it's legs in response.

As much as it was Danny's dog, her little brother had no real luck in training the dog. Jack and Maddie had tried, but they didn't have much luck either. Jazz, somehow, did.

Therefore, somehow, she was the one in charge of training Cujo. It had been a rough first week, he would keep transforming into his large size at the drop of a hat. Finally, Jazz had managed to work that issue out of him, and now the ghost dog only transformed when he thought there was a dangerous threat. At least he would make a great guard dog, which Jazz guessed he was supposed to become, before he died.

"Not _exactly _what I thought I would spend my summer vacation doing." Jazz mused aloud, ceasing to scratch Cujo. The ghost dog let out a low whine, looking up at her with a pleading expression, all but begging her to continue. "But I guess I can put dog trainer on my resume now." She remarked.

"Ghost dog trainer at least. Somehow I get the feeling that there's not a whole lot of jobs in that field." She said, sitting back in her chair. Today, everyone was out of the house for one reason or another, leaving Jazz alone with Cujo, who could be rather attention starved at times. Looking at the dog's pleading expression, Jazz frowned, before being struck by an idea. Getting up from her chair, she motioned for Cujo to follow her. He bounded down the stairs behind her as they headed down towards the basement lab. Once there, Jazz began her search for what she was sure her mother had at least one of down here.

"_Ah-ha_!" Jazz grinned, emerging from her search triumphant. "I knew we had one!" She said, holding up the laser pointer. "Cujo!" She called out, getting the ghost dog's attention. It tilted it's head at the thing in her hands, and leaped backwards when she turned it on, a red dot all of a sudden appearing at his feet. Puzzled, the dog put it's paw on the dot, but of course, the dot being insubstantial, he failed to catch it.

"I think I might have found a good game for you." Jazz said, moving the laser pointer, the red dot moving with it. Cujo pounced on it, wagging it's tail as it was sure it had it this time- but then Jazz moved it again.

When Danny came back from that evening's patrol, he found Jazz playing in the lab with Cujo, the ghost dog chasing the red dot up the ceiling. She paused when her brother saw her, flushing a light shade of red- until Danny joined her, that is.

Ghost dogs, Jazz decided, weren't very different from regular dogs after all.


	5. Fishing

Author's Note: Oh look, it's the first of the AU one-shots! Some of these will be in relation to various AU stories I am writing, others will not. They will be marked by a 'continuity' section that will either have the title of the story in question, or just 'AU' if it's a general AU without a story. This is a prelude to the main story- no knowledge of said story is needed to read the one shot!

Danny Phantom is not mine, as always~ Next prompt is 'Too Little Time'.

* * *

Fishing

Characters: Jack Fenton, Danny Fenton

Continuity: Wolf Boy x Ghost Girl

Summery: Jack Fenton was not a man good with words, he needed prompting. Thankfully, Maddie knew just what kind of prompting would work.

* * *

Jack Fenton had five things that he bore great love for. Above all else, there was his family- his wife, Maddie, and his children, Jazz and Danny. Ghost hunting and fudge existed on an equal level with each other, and heavens help him if he ever had to choose between the two of them. Next was needlepoint, which was both artsy and relaxing. The last, of course, was fishing. Jack Fenton was passionate about fishing.

He wasn't sure when exactly the tradition of the weekend fishing trip had started. He knew that he brought Maddie out sometimes on the weekend to go fishing with him in college, and sometimes Vlad joined them. That changed after Vlad's accident, sadly, and he no longer joined them on fishing trips. Eventually, Jack and Maddie got married, and in the chaos, they stopped going on weekend fishing trips for awhile. There were so many things to take care of! They bought a new house in Amity Park, which they made the base of their ghost hunting activities. When things had finally settled down for awhile, Jack first had to search for a good spot. When he finally found one, they had about three weekends of peace and quiet before Maddie announced the happiest news Jack had ever heard in his life.

She was pregnant.

But that also meant no more weekend fishing trips after a certain point. And Jack was fine with that. He didn't want to leave Maddie to be by herself, and didn't want to bring her on a rocking boat when her belly was swollen with the precious life of his baby daughter. When Jazz was born, there was no time for fishing trips anymore. Two years later came Danny, and for awhile, Jack had all but forgotten about his weekend fishing trips.

It wasn't until Danny was around eight years old and Jazz was ten that Jack recalled his weekend fishing trips with fondness. He was delighted to find that his old fishing spot was still there, and soon, the family began to fish during the weekends, and Jack taught his children everything that he knew. Things changed, though, once Jazz set her sights on studying psychology seriously, and she stopped coming on fishing trips. After the first weekend trip without her, Maddie expressed to Jack that she was worried about leaving Jazz home alone, and so, she too, had stopped coming.

That left both Jack and Danny, and Jack was fine with that. He was proud of his daughter, and even if what she wanted to do wasn't related to ghosts, he knew that she would still do him proud. She was a Fenton, after all, and the Fentons were a family of geniuses.

Everyone had been excited when Danny entered high school, and nobody was more excited than Jack had been. A weekend fishing trip wasn't enough, he decided, they should try a nice family camping trip the week before school started back up. He searched and searched for the right spot, and at least, stumbled upon one. So the Fentons had packed their bags, double checked their supplies and headed out in the Fenton RV.

None of them imagined that their camping trip would be cut short on the third day in such a way that it had. Jack blamed himself- he was the one who had chosen the spot, although there was no way he could have seen the events that transpired coming. It was his fault that his son and daughter had been attacked by that monster, his fault that his son had been put on the brink between life and death. As relieved he was to hear that his son would live, Jack didn't quite know what to make of what had happened to him.

Ghosts, Jack Fenton believed in.

Werewolves? Not so much.

But there was the reality in front of his eyes. As a small token of comfort, the werewolf at the campsite had been the exception, not the rule. In fact, the woman who had come to explain everything to the Fentons was downright delightful and made a mean pulled pork sandwich at that- she was more than welcome back any time, and she did show up often during the first two months.

The weekend fishing trips with Danny had, obviously, stopped.

There was an awkward air between father and son that persisted after the first two months. It got worse after Danny's first real transformation- Jack had heard the first transformation was always the most painful, but he was completely unprepared for the screams of pain that accompanied it. There was one thing and one thing alone that Jack Fenton hated more than ghosts- and that was seeing his family suffering. Knowing that his son was enduring great pain for a second time all because of him and that there was _nothing _he could do about it, nothing he could do about any of it, was too much for the man.

Jack was not normally the type of person to dwell on things, though there were some things he did. He didn't show it as much, but Jack had always felt terrible for what had happened to his college friend, Vlad Masters, his glory days cut off all because of him. If he had taken the time to pay more attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed that Vlad was peering straight into the proto portal before he turned it on, too lost in his excitement about 'busting a hole into the Ghost Zone'. Vlad didn't seem to blame him though, not at first, it wasn't until the fifth time he went to visit Vlad in the hospital, Maddie hand in hand with him, that his old friend had exploded on him, and yelled that he never wanted to see either of them ever again.

Jack wondered if Vlad would ever forgive him.

And now he had done something that had caused his own son pain, twice over. To be frank, when Jack found Jazz and Danny after chasing the beast that had attacked them away, he thought Danny wasn't going to make it. There was too much blood everywhere, and his son seemed to be poisoned by something, his breathing too heavy, his forehead too hot.

Just like Jack couldn't get the screams out of his head, he couldn't get the image out of his head, much as he tried.

How could his son want anything to do with him after the trip he had planned had resulted in all of this? After he had failed to get there in time to prevent any of this from happening? Jack couldn't face him properly.

Danny thought his father was avoiding him for other reasons.

Jazz and Maddie both noticed this, and the two women of the Fenton family conspired to see something was done about it. They knew the key- Jack and Danny's weekend fishing trips. But waiting was required, recovery time was in order. Danny started his high school life one month late, adjustments took time and the effects of the werewolf poison took time to properly fade. It wasn't until two months after the camping trip that Jazz and Maddie saw their chance.

Therefore, that weekend, Jack and Danny found themselves sitting on opposite ends of a fishing boat, both men trying to look at everything but each other. It was quiet, their usual idle chatter gone. Jack tried to ask some questions, about how school was going, if he'd caught up yet, but all he got were short answers from his son. Every so often, Danny would grumble and rub his ears, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Is there something in your ears, son?" Jack asked after a moment. Their usual river spot was empty of everyone save for them, although there were other people dotted about upstream. It was very quiet, only the occasional fish breaking to the surface making any noise.

"No." Danny said shortly, leaning his arm against the side of the fishing boat, placing his chin in his hand.

"Then what's wrong with your ears?" Jack asked.

"I can hear _everything."_ Danny said finally, heaving a sigh. "It's ridiculous. There's a couple arguing upriver and I can tell what they're fighting about." He crinkled his nose. "Not to mention that it's a damn ridiculous argument as well."

"What are they fighting about?" Jack found himself asking, unable to help himself.

"They are having a relationship ending argument about whether or not they should name their future pet cat they plan to adopt Tweedledum or Mister Fluffypants." Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Personally, I think those are both terrible names." Jack said.

"Tell me about it." Danny laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly feeling awkward again. "And then there's all these damn fish down there."

"You can hear the fish?" Jack asked, baiting his line again. He offered the jar of worms to his son, who deftly plucked one from it, and tied it to his line, casting it over. "Is that how you've been catching more fish than me this whole time?"

"What, jealous?" Danny asked, unable to keep a small grin from creeping onto his face. "I won't tell you where they are even if you ask though."

"Well, at least we'll be stocked on fish for the coming few weeks." Jack paused, considering this. "Perhaps shorter. You've got quite the appetite these days, son." He noted, and regretted his words a moment later when Danny flinched. "Well, you're a growing boy, that's to be expected."

"Yeah well, not like this." Danny muttered glumly, reeling in another wriggling fish. "I'm still getting used to it." He confessed, untangling the fist from the hook, holding the wriggling thing in his hands. "I mean, I half want to just eat this damn thing right now." He gave a bitter laugh. "It's... weird, isn't it?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "It's just like sushi, with less rice and more bones." He said. There was that awkward air again, hanging between the two of them. This time, Jack decided to break it. Maddie had said to do something about it, so he intended to try, although he was not exactly a man known to be eloquent in regards to his words. "Danny, I'm sorry." He said after a long moment.

"For what?" Danny blinked, tossing the fish into his bucket, and peeking into it. Maybe he had caught enough fish for the moment, they were packed in there like sardines. He gave a mental chuckle at his terrible pun. "You haven't done anything wrong."

Jack blinked, confused by his son's words. "Well I thought the reason you were avoiding me was because you thought all of this was my fault."

"What?" Danny asked, looking at his father in confusion. "I thought you were the one avoiding me! And none of this is your fault. Why would it be? You couldn't have known."

"You're not upset with me?" Jack asked, staring at his son.

"You're not freaked out by me?" Danny asked back to him.

"Of course not!" Jack balked at the very notion. "Danny, you're my son, and I love you. Nothing could possibly ever change that. Not now, not ever. Nothing you are will ever be more important to me than the fact that you are my flesh and blood, and that I love every molecule of you."

"I see." Danny said, glancing down at his feet, massaging the back of his neck. "I could have sworn..." He laughed a little then, before sheepishly peering back up at his father. "I guess we were both over thinking things."

"So it would seem." Jack nodded his head. "Well, with that out of the way, Danny, don't you think you could share with your old man where all the fish are massing?"

"Not a chance. Find your own fish." Danny laughed.


	6. Too Little Time

Author's Note: Here comes the next one! A little bit of a friendship fic between Tucker and Danny, best bros forever. Next prompt is 'Cold Steel'.

* * *

Too Little Time

Characters: Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton

Summery: Even a busy man can spare a few moments for a friend.

* * *

Tucker Foley let out a low groan, and pushed his history textbook away from him, leaning back in his chair. Closing his eyes, he massaged his forehead, feeling the start of a headache coming on. That was usually a sign that it was time for him to take a short break from all of this studying he was doing.

Laze around the first three years of high school, and then get serious in his senior year, is what his plan had been. He'd tested for every AP class at the start of the year and had been accepted to all of them, and planned to stay at the top of his class.

He just didn't entirely realize how much _work _that would actually be.

Nevertheless, Tucker had committed himself to it, and letting his grades drop now would almost guarantee that he would never be able to get into the college of his choice. It wasn't all boring, of course, he enjoyed his computer course, even if his skills were beyond that of what the teacher could teach him- thanks to all of the hacking and computer work he had to do for Danny over the years, he thought. AP History was far more engaging than any other history course he had been in- probably because they actually went past Reconstruction unlike every history course Tucker had ever been in ever.

It also meant that Tucker didn't have much time for anything other than schoolwork these days. Which included ghost hunting with Danny, of course, to his great regret.

There was a knock on his window just as he was mulling this over, and Tucker opened his eyes, peering towards it. He grinned a little as he saw who it was, his half-ghost friend floating outside the window, holding up a takeout bag from the Nasty Burger in one hand. He phased through the window after Tucker motioned for him to come inside.

"Late night offering for someone burning the midnight oil?" Phantom said, extending the bag towards Tucker.

"Sweet, I was starting to get a little hungry!" Tucker grinned, keeping his voice low so as to not wake his parents. Opening the bag, he pulled out the wrapped burger, clearing a space with his free hand on his desk so that he wouldn't have to go to class the next day with burger juice stains all over his textbooks and homework. "Aw, and you got my favorites too, Danny."

"Yeah, well, one of those burgers is for me." Danny told him, transforming back into his human form, snatching it out of the bag, along with the carton of fries. "Thank goodness they decided to stay open for twenty four hours last year. Late night snacks were hard to come by!"

"Tell me about it." Tucker rolled his eyes, unwrapping the foil from the burger, setting the carton of fries aside on his desk. He pulled out the stack of napkins from the bag, passing them on to Danny after he took some. "And you came right on time too, I was just starting to take a break."

"You really overloaded yourself there, Tucker." Danny said, taking some of the napkins, folding them over his lap. He sat cross legged next to Tucker, carefully unwrapping the burger and setting it on the napkins.

"Yeah well, I'm not sure you should be one to talk, Danny." Tucker arched an eyebrow.

Danny chuckled. "True enough." He said. "What are you working one right now?"

"AP History. It's the most work, so I always save it for last." He told him. "Lots of reading, mostly."

"I'll say. That book's like twice the size of any of my textbooks." Danny said, taking a bite out of his burger. "Well, if you're ever in need of a projectile weapon, you know what to turn to now."

"Tell me about it." Tucker laughed. "I'm starting to think I'm finally gaining some muscles from lugging these things around. At least I'll be prepared for all of those massive college textbooks." He said, munching on a fry.

"You have an idea of where you're going yet?" Danny asked.

"Some ideas." Tucker nodded his head. "I've got three schools I want to apply to at least, a fourth, if you include my fallback school. I want to go into something with computers, but that probably doesn't surprise you at all."

"Not one bit." Danny grinned. "Well, I think you'll do good in whatever you go into, Tucker. Sam's planning on going to college for Environmental Science, if I recall correctly." He frowned a little. "It's going to be a bit lonely not having you guys around anymore."

"Yeah, it's pretty lonely not being able to see you two all the time anymore." Tucker frowned. "We'll keep in touch though. That's what the Internet is there for." He said. "What about you Danny? What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm not really sure yet." Danny confessed, taking another bite of his burger, chewing thoughtfully. "It's not that I haven't given it any thought or anything, but ghost hunting complicates matters. It's not that I don't want to go to college- I do- and it's not that I'm worried about leaving Amity Park alone, because my mother at least, has more than caught up to my speed, but I'm pretty sure that me leaving Amity Park will not stop certain ghosts from coming after me."

"True enough. You would think Skulker would quit after awhile. He's never been able to catch up all this time." Tucker mused. "Got to give him an A for persistence, though. Maybe he should consider motivational speaking instead."

"You'd think." The boy laughed, flashing a quick grin. "I don't really know quite yet Tucker. Ghost hunting is a duty for me, you know, but I don't want it to be what I do for a living. I'm not like my parents, I can develop ghost tech to sell to people, so I fail to see how I could make money off of it aside from exploiting people in need- and I'm not down with that." He told him. "At the very least, I have an extra year to think about it, though I'm not sure what college will be jumping at the kid who flunked junior year." He rolled his eyes.

"You could try astronomy." Tucker suggested. "It's not the same as being an astronaut, but you still get to work with the stars."

"It's a thought." Danny shrugged his shoulders, finishing up his burger and moving on to his fries.

"How's the ghost hunting coming tonight, by the way?" Tucker asked. "Given that you're here, I assume it's a dull night."

"Pretty dull, yeah. That's a good thing though, to be honest." Danny told him. "If a ghost doesn't show up soon, I'm going home to see if I can't catch up on some sleep." He said, munching on a fry. Then, as if on cue, a blue wisp of mist escaped from his lips, and he heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "Okay, I guess I was asking for that one." He said, standing up. "Want my fries?"

"I'll take 'em." Tucker grinned, taking the carton from him. "Good luck out there, Danny. Maybe it'll just be the Box Ghost, who knows?"

"Hopefully." Danny grinned, switching over to ghost mode. "I'll catch you at school tomorrow, Tuck. Good luck with your homework!"

"Good luck with the ghosts!" Tucker called after him, watching Phantom fly off.

Both of them might be awfully busy these days, Tucker thought, munching on a fry, but they would always be able to make time to spend together. They were friends, after all, and be it ghosts or a massive amount of homework, nothing was going to change that.


	7. Cold Steel

Author's Note: Next one shot! I guess I should warn you all now that it's also a death fic. I don't really have a whole lot to say other than the blades being referenced are from the episode 'Micro-Management'. Next prompt is 'Song'.

* * *

Cold Steel

Characters: Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Jazz Fenton

Summery: Steel does not bear any mercy.

* * *

He knew he was dying, in spite of the reassuring words of his friends.

He could almost feel the steel blade that must have pierced his lungs, given the difficulty that he was having breathing. Each breath he took was like a labored task, ragged and uneven, sending a fresh wave of pain through him. No doubt the moment the dagger was removed, blood would fill his lungs almost instantly. He had been on many adventures with his friends, helped fight many ghosts, but this, he thought, was his last one.

He had regrets, of course he did. What fifteen year old boy wouldn't have them?

He should have worked harder to get Danny and Sam to hook up.

He should have honestly told Valerie his feelings for her.

He should have done a little better in school, instead of slacking off all the time.

He probably shouldn't have spent all that money on that new PDA that he would now never get to use.

He also _probably _should have remembered to go back for that tuna salad sandwich he had forgotten in his locker that Friday. He hoped somebody would clean out his locker before that thing reached critical mass.

But if you asked him if he regretted the manner of his death?

That would be a no.

It had been a usual Sunday for Team Phantom, and for them, that meant ghost fighting. They had captured the Box Ghost, for what was the third time in two days, and had been enjoying a nice meal at the Nasty Burger when everyone's favorite ghostly hunter showed up. Skulker never quite knew when to quit, and Tucker Foley wasn't sure if he admired his persistence and dedication, or wondered if the ghost was just plain delusional about his chances of capturing Danny.

Probably a little bit of both, really.

So, lunch had been cut short. That was a bummer, but it wasn't the first time that had happened. Sam and Tucker covered for Danny while he found a place to transform, and Jazz took the task of making sure all the bystanders were out of the way before the ecto blasts started flying.

One of Skulker's toys was a round of what Tucker guessed could be called 'dagger missiles', which were pretty much exactly what they sounded like. They would be much more serious, if not for the fact that Skulker had made the rather comical choice of putting his face on the handles. Even now, with one poking out from his chest, Tucker still couldn't help but think that it was rather ridiculous.

He had fired them at Danny, who had deflected them with an ecto shield, the daggers harmlessly bouncing off of it. At least, they should have. One of them had other things in mind, apparently, as it ricocheted off a corner and straight towards Sam. She hadn't seen it coming, but Tucker and Danny sure did.

For once in his life though, Tucker was the faster of the two, being the closest. But not fast enough, apparently, as an intake of breath sending a fresh wave of pain through his chest indicated.

Jazz and Sam were rushing Tucker towards the hospital, and Danny had been forced to stay behind to finish dealing with Skulker. He hoped that he wouldn't do anything reckless, Tucker worried about him that way sometimes.

"It's okay, Tucker, we're almost there." Jazz called out from the front seat, not daring to take her eyes off the road for one second. She was so glad she had brought her car today. Calling and waiting for an ambulance would take too much time, precious time that they might not have. Tucker was fading fast, she knew that.

Jazz had always worried that one day her brother wouldn't come back home. She never would have even suspected that such a fate would be in store for one of his friends instead. She should have realized this, should have insisted that they all be more careful. She was supposed to be the grown up mature one here, so why hadn't she realized this?

Sam was sitting in the back with Tucker, keeping his head on her knees, applying pressure around the area of the wound. She was using his trademark red beret to do so, though because of this, it was unclear how much blood was actually staining the thing. She would buy him a new one later, as many new ones as he wanted, denying the possibility that there might not be a person to buy them for in the very near future.

"Come on Tucker, don't give up." Sam told him, frustrated, immensely frustrated, at herself, more than anyone else. She should have seen that thing coming at her, but she didn't notice it at all. She was grateful that she had the mind to take some first aid courses right after Danny started his whole superhero shtick, and had some idea of how to handle injuries like this.

"No, Sam," Tucker croaked out. "It's okay." He gave her a weak smile. "Though I was hoping the first girl whose knees I got to rest my head on would be Valerie. This isn't bad though."

"Shut up." Sam hissed, rolling her eyes. "You'll get your chance with Valerie."

"No I won't." Tucker said directly, shaking his head. Ow, that was a mistake, he thought, wincing. Wincing was also a mistake, that also hurt, he thought. For that matter, everything hurt. Talking hurt, but he had something important that he needed to tell her, to tell Jazz, and important words to leave behind for Danny, who might not come back in time to hear them. "It's okay, Sam, don't look at me like that. I can feel it."

"Don't talk, Tucker!" Jazz yelled back at him. "Save your breath."

"Doesn't matter at this point." Tucker gasped out, feeling pain taking hold. He suddenly felt strangely light headed, probably not a good sign. "I need to tell you that it's not your fault, Sam." Tucker forced himself to continue, these were important words, words he needed to say right now. "It's not your fault either Jazz, and it's certainly not Danny's fault. If anyone's to blame, it's probably just Skulker."

He winced again, biting his lip against the pain. "Tell my parents not to get mad at Danny or at any of you. Tell them I said that, okay?" He coughed a little, feeling what must of been a dribble of blood touch his lips. "It's okay, Sam." He reassured her, though he could barely see the expression on her face now, vision going blurry. "I'll find a way back. We live in a world where ghosts are real, and not all of them are evil, right?"

"I'll come back sometime."

It was one moment too late by the time they arrived at the hospital. All the doctors could do was shake their heads at the two teenagers. The time of death was clocked in at around one thirty seven.

The last thing Tucker Foley remembered before he couldn't remember anything anymore was asking Sam to take the tuna salad sandwich out of his locker.


	8. Song

Author's Note: And I am back from my mini-hiatus! Got to take a break every once in awhile to do other things, and to recharge those creative juices. Actually, my hiatus went on a little longer than I planned, but various circumstances got in my way. Sorry about that, all of you! Without further ado, getting back into the swing of things with a new one shot. I think everyone has done something to the tune of this, but I wanted to give it a try myself.

Next prompt is 'If Only'.

* * *

Song

Characters: Ember

Summery: The first step in any diabolical plot involving music was, of course, writing the damn song.

* * *

The actual tune itself had come easy to her, as if it had been in her head all along.

It had only been a matter of determining what genre she wanted to play. She'd thought about rock, or perhaps something a little heavier at first, but quickly realized that in order to attract the mass of teenagers that she wanted, she would instead have to go with something a little more mainstream sounding. Having the ability to weave hypnotic messages into her music was one thing, but it worked better if the music itself had wide appeal.

The music had come easy to her, so she had thought that once she set pen down to paper, so would the lyrics.

That was a mistake.

Here she was, in her own little corner of the Ghost Zone, frustrated out of her mind, surrounded by an endless amount of crumpled up sheets of paper. What had started off as bland, gag worthy lyrics that almost reeked of cheese had gradually turned into the sort of nonsense that sounded vaguely philosophical, but meant absolutely nothing and she couldn't even recall why she had thought they were a good idea to write down in the first place.

This would probably be easier if she could remember anything about herself.

The ghost girl, 'Ember', she had dubbed herself, grumbled in frustration, ripping out another sheet of paper, balling it up, and tossing it against the wall. In all honesty, she could have gone with any kind of nonsensical song, but _damnit_, just because she could enthrall people with her music didn't mean that she wasn't at least going to try and be professional about this. She took her music seriously, after all.

Her music was just about the only thing she remembered. She remembered being good at it, and then not at anything else. It had been her only talent, her only claim to fame. She had vague memories of frowning faces, and she could only assumed that they might have been her parents, not keen on their daughter's 'hobby'.

She didn't need her memories to know that music had been more than just a hobby for her. She had been trying to be somebody in the business, she clearly got that feeling.

Grumbling, she summoned her guitar, settling it down in her lap, strumming a few notes on it, hoping to find some inspiration out of concentration.

Other, vague things, haunted her fragmented memories. There was the feeling of betrayal, so strong that it overpowered everything else. A man's face, clear, yet distinct, it was a strange feeling, at once able to determine what he looked like, yet still somehow, unable to quite make him out. He was of some importance to her, she thought, but the feeling of betrayal no doubt stemmed from him.

She didn't know what he had done, but she got the feeling it was the kind of thing she could never forgive him for, whoever he was, or had been.

She remembered winter, and thought perhaps she had died in winter. Fire, too, she remembered fire. She had probably died in a fire, though whether it had been from the fire or the smoke, she couldn't say.

It wasn't important anyways.

What was important was her revenge.

She had been wronged, she knew that much, knew it deep to her bones (if she still _had _bones, she wasn't quite sure how this whole ghost thing worked, exactly).

It was written on every fiber of her being, imprinted so strongly in her mind that she had returned in this form. Someone, probably that man, had done something terrible to her, something horrible, something unforgivable, and she was angry, mad, royally ticked off.

And hurt.

There was a deep, deep sense of hurt there.

She must have trusted that person very much, otherwise she didn't think there would have been this much pain.

Closing her eyes, she strummed away, trying to see if there was anything else she could recall. Surely, her life hadn't been all pain and misery, hurt and betrayal, surely it hadn't always been filled with frowning faces and false smiles.

_Write what you know._

"Easy for you to say, disembodied voice of someone I don't remember." Ember muttered, steadily strumming her guitar. "I don't feel like I know _anything_. All of this would probably be so much easier if I could just remember my own _name_."

Her bright green eyes snapped open, and the guitar vanished alongside it, and she grabbed the pen and paper, scribbling something quickly down on it. A triumphant grin spread over her face as she looked at the words in front of her, holding it up in front of her.

"Yeah." She grinned. "This'll do for a start."


	9. If Only

Author's Note: Eheheheh, sorry guys! I've been pretty busy with various things in real life lately, so writing got kind of derailed as a consequence. I hope to make a serious update sometime soon, but no promises because apparently I am bad at keeping those. For now, have a one shot! Next up is Scavenge!

* * *

**If Only**

Characters: Dash Baxter, Paulina Sanchez

Summery: Sometimes, when one is busy looking at a fixed point, they fail to notice anyone else that might be looking their way.

* * *

He didn't know how it was that she never noticed him.

He was the most popular guy at school, and she was the most popular girl at school! It seemed natural that the two of them would be together- and they were, in a sense. They always hung out around each other, and they chatted and talked- but she never looked at him as anything other than a friend. Sometimes Dash thought she barely even noticed that he was male. For awhile he wondered if maybe Paulina was really into girls, which was fine- he wasn't about to go highlighting it, but Dash didn't see anything wrong with that sort of thing.

But then Phantom showed up.

And he knew that wasn't the case.

It was just that Paulina wasn't interested in _him._

Dash wasn't used to that. Girls usually flocked to him, and they had even before he had liked girls, back in elementary school. Even preschool, now that he really thought about it.

He'd always been popular with the ladies, and had found that wooing girls came easy to him. He had girls ask him out before, and he accepted most of their confessions- but they just didn't click with him, so it never really lasted very long. There weren't many hurt feelings, in middle school, not a lot of romances were all that serious.

She caught his attention on the very first day of high school. She was like something out of a dream, and for a moment, Dash couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming, to see something so beautiful.

They got along well together- he was the captain of the football team and she was the leader of the cheer squad. It was natural for the two of them to be together, or so high school law dictated. Dash wasn't very surprised when he fell into the A List in high school- of course he would, it was only natural after all. There was nothing about him that wasn't A List material.

And yet he couldn't get the girl of his dreams to even look at him as a man.

It wasn't like she had rejected him, but more like she wasn't even aware of him in that sense. And Dash found himself in a position that he was not normally in- sure, he could ask a girl to the dance, but he'd never actually had to be the one to seriously ask a girl to go out with him. They usually came to him.

He didn't know how to do it.

He'd tried to do it once, when the school dance was coming up- Paulina had been the first girl he had tried to ask. That was before he had known he was really serious for her, and before they had known each other as well. He'd gone up to her, tried to chat her up, an then...

Well, Dash didn't really remember what had happened next. Something about washing his mother's feet?

At any rate, he didn't get that date. He ended up going to the prom stag- apparently, he needed to work on his flirting skills. Maybe there was one thing about him that wasn't entirely A List material- not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

It was probably when Paulina started swooning over Phantom that made Dash realize he had fallen in love with her.

It was odd, in a way. Here she was, swooning after a guy who barely gave her the time of day. Dash wasn't even sure if Phantom even really noticed Paulina, and he wasn't sure why it was a ghost that she'd picked to swoon over. There was no way a relationship between a ghost and a human could ever work, right? After all, Paulina was alive, and well, Phantom was dead.

Maybe if he told her how he felt, Paulina would turn away from Phantom and look at him. But as much as Dash hated to admit it- who would ever pass Phantom up for him? After all, he was brave, heroic, and strong, in a way that Dash could never hope to be. Dash hated to admit it, but he wasn't exactly all that courageous- he was pretty sure Phantom had never run screaming like a girl from another ghost.

Okay, that was two things about him that weren't exactly A List material. He'd keep that one to himself too.

If only Dash had realized sooner that what he felt for Paulina was really serious. If only he was able to properly ask her out. If only Phantom and all of the ghosts had never shown up, then maybe he would have had a chance.

As much as he idolized Phantom, there was a small part of him that couldn't help but resent the ghost, knowing that he had unknowingly stolen away the heart of the girl that he loved. Oh sure, he hadn't done it on purpose- and it wasn't like he owned Paulina or anything. But it still hurt.

But maybe he'd try someday soon. Maybe one day after all of this Phantom business kind of died down, he would try. There was a nice little Italian place that Dash had been thinking of asking her to. Or maybe they could just sit down and grab a burger at the Nasty Burger, or just catch a movie.

It would be nice, he thought.

But for now, they were friends, and Dash would patiently listen as Paulina vividly explained to him all about Phantom's latest exploits, not having the heart to tell her that he had been there too, and that he already knew all of this stuff.

For now they were friends, and that was okay.

But that didn't erase the if onlys.


	10. Scavenge

Author's Note: Rolling out another one shot since I had some spare time this afternoon! Also, I totally noticed that my one shot collection is listed on the rec list of the tumblr of someone I really like and is it okay if I just die of horrific embarrassment? Anyways, this ties into my fanfic, 'Dark Angel', and can be consider as an immediate prequel to the main fic.

Also apparently if you put Valerie and Danny together and have them be best buddies they both become huge dorks. I am not all that surprised.

As always, Danny Phantom does not belong to me. Next up is 'A Little Place Called Home'!

* * *

Scavenge

Continuity: Dark Angel (AU)

Characters: Danny Fenton, Valerie Gray

Summary: Providing for oneself becomes much easier when one has ghost powers.

"Find anything useful?"

"Not unless you're interested in wearing duckie pajamas, Val." Phantom observed, holding up the fading blue pair of pajama pants, a pattern of rubber ducks sewn in.

"Something tells me that I can pass on that." Valerie observed, quirking a brow at the pajamas in question. "Well, I haven't found anything useful either, except for this can opener. There was a whole box full of can openers- I feel like I should be worried." She noted.

"Yeah well, this entire box is full of duck stuff." Phantom observed, tossing it aside. Today was scavenging day, and that meant raiding storage units and swiping stuff that didn't look all that important. It was technically illegal, he knew- but when you were a pair of eighteen year old runaways with almost no cash, you had to do what you had to do. Besides, it wasn't like they ever took anything valuable. "I think we found a weird one."

"Between the can openers, the ducks, and the apparent fascination with door knobs? I would have to agree. Makes me wonder what their house looks like." Valerie noted, stowing away the can opener she had found in a worn looking duffel bag. "At least we found something useful. No more ectoplasm flavored soup or beans! As convenient as your ghost powers are, Phantom, your ecto-beams make a lousy impromptu can opener."

"We could have just taken one from the store you know, if you wanted one so badly." Phantom observed, pulling open another box. "And this one is filled entirely with fake fruit. What the hell kind of person is renting this unit anyways?"

"I don't feel comfortable stealing from stores unless we have to." Valerie noted. "It would be nice if we could pick up one or two non-Umbra related ghost hunting gigs. I honestly don't know how your parents manage to make money, Phantom, there's not a lot of cash in this line of work."

"Yeah well, my parents aren't a pair of suspicious looking teenage runaways." Phantom noted, giving up on the fake fruit box and going for another one. "I probably wouldn't hire us either. Speaking of Umbra, do you have any leads on where it might be headed to next?" He asked, glancing over at her. "We were so close in the last town too- I could have sworn that we nearly had him."

"I'm looking into it." Valerie told him, frowning as she took a seat on a sturdy looking box. "Sometimes it's harder to filter out what's real and what's bullshit on the Internet. I don't like the looks that they give me at Internet cafes either. I don't look that much like a hobo, do I?"

"Not at all. I probably look more like one than you." The white haired teen assured her, deciding that searching further through this collection was useless. The box he had just opened up was filled with nothing but sponges after all- used sponges from the looks of them. "I think you raise less eyebrows than I do anyways. Not that I blame them, I know what I look like."

"You don't look that weird, Danny." Valerie said, slipping into his old name by habit. He'd given it up once they had left Amity Park to pursue Umbra, feeling that he didn't deserve to have it in his current state. As much as she disagreed with him on this, she decided to respect his wishes. Sometimes, though, she would use his real name, almost as if she felt she needed to remind him of it every once in awhile.

"Well thanks, Valerie, but I think you're the only one who thinks so." He said, twisting a lock of white hair. "See look, I even glow in the dark a little." He waved his hand around, as if to demonstrate. It was true though, he did bare a faint ghostly glow, much like the creatures that they hunted, when they weren't on the track of a spirit far more dangerous than your run of the mill specter.

It was a bit hard to believe that four years ago, they had been living happy, normal lives. Valerie had been able to go home everyday to see her father, and would spend her free time hanging out with Danny, and their other best friend Ember. And then those happy times had suddenly come to a screeching halt, as for no reason at all, both her father and Ember killed themselves within two days. There was something supernatural afoot, alright, and Danny and Valerie had ended up knee deep in it- her friend all the worse off for it.

Valerie wondered what it was like to only have half a soul. It wasn't a pleasant thing to hear it happening, she couldn't have imagined what it felt like.

"I do have one lead." Valerie said, standing up. "I got a strange message from someone in a town named Borley, in Wisconsin. They used a temporary e-mail address, so I can't track them, but they said that we might find what we're looking for there. I think they found me through some forum posts that I made in regards to Umbra."

"That sounds both promising and immensely suspicious." Phantom noted, dusting off his hands, glancing over at his long time friend. "Should we go check it out anyways?"

"Any lead at all is a good lead. Preferably even better before the bodies start piling up." She said. "We can head out now, if you want to call it a day on the scavenging."

"Between this eccentric collection unit and the one that was filled with literately nothing but sombreros, I think we may have found the world's strangest collection of storage units. So basically, yes. I don't think we're going to find anything here." Phantom snorted. "Borley, huh? Never heard of it- any idea where it is?"

"I looked it up. It's a bit of a ways from here." Valerie said, reaching out her hand. Phantom took it in his own, giving her a small grin as he turned the both intangible, walking the both of them straight through the wall of the storage unit.

"I don't think that's every going to stop being cool." Valerie noted, before she pulled out a small cube, unfolding it into a large hover board. "Shall we go?"

"We shall!" Phantom agreed. "A mystery awaits, and it's very rude to be late to a mystery."


	11. A Little Place Called Home

Author's Note: Well I've got half of the next chapter of _The Once and Future Phantom_ written up when I momentarily lost my muse- so I wrote this instead! Also I might have some plans for a brand new AU series that I am currently tinkering with, and it's an idea that I really like. I think (or I hope) everyone else will enjoy it as well!

Danny Phantom does not belong to me, as always. Next up is 'Burn'.

* * *

A Little Place Called Home

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton

Summary: As strange as her family was, there was no place she would rather be than with them.

"Take cover!" Jack Fenton bellowed, and not a moment too soon, as a sizzling ecto-blast soared over Jazz's head the moment she ducked down. "Good God, now the thing's armed! Sound the alarms, Maddie!"

In retrospect, Jazz probably shouldn't have assumed that she was going to come home to a normal Thanksgiving dinner with her folks. They didn't do normal, after all. That said, she hadn't exactly expected them to reanimate the turkey.

_Again_.

Wasn't once enough? Jazz wondered, as she rolled out of the way of the reanimated turkey, which moved surprisingly well for something without eyes- or a head, for that matter. Really, after all of the things that she had seen living in Amity Park, the twenty one year old really didn't question it anymore. Reanimated turkey wielding one of her parent's ecto-guns?

Eh, sounded like a Tuesday.

Compared to the chaos of Amity Park, college life was remarkably boring. Her classes her engaging, and it was nice to have all the time she needed to work on her papers and her thesis, but sometimes she missed the thrill of teaming up with her brother to hunt down the ghosts that haunted the streets.

Speaking of that.

"Where's Danny anyways? Isn't this sort of his area of expertise?" She called out to her mother, who rolled underneath another blast, pulling out a Fenton knife from out of one of her boots and throwing it with deadly precision at the reanimated turkey. It missed, the turkey doing a rather impressive back flip to avoid it. Jazz would have given it ten points.

"He was invited over the Sam's place to eat Thanksgiving lunch, sweetie!" Maddie told her, pulling out several more Fenton knives- and Jazz vaguely wondered where it was that she kept them all, sending them one after another at the turkey. Only two of them hit their mark, and seemed only to suffice to make the undead creature all the more angry.

"How come Danny's the only one who gets to have two Thanksgiving meals anyways!?" Jack protested, yelping a little as he ducked out of the way of a stray ecto-blast. With a triumphant grin, he produced the Fenton Fisher- only to find once again, it was tangled in a mass of wire.

"Well I think it's great!" Jazz called out, avoiding the turkey as it rushed at her, intending to fire the ecto-gun point blank at her. A neat kick sent it sailing towards her mother, who quickly caught the beast and disarmed it, tossing the ecto-gun to her husband, who after a bit of bumbling, managed to catch it. "This means that Sam's parents are getting along with Danny better, right?"

"That it does!" Maddie agreed, smiling as she caught the Fenton Thermos that Jack threw back to her. "Pamela and Jeremy seem to have finally come to their senses about a lot of things. Well, not about jumpsuits." There was a hint of irritation in her voice as she sucked up the turkey into the Thermos, spinning it in one hand, and tossing it back over to her daughter, as she neatly caught it.

"Great!" Jazz grinned. "I'm so glad things have been going well here since I left college. I always worry." She said, setting aside the Fenton Thermos on the table. "We... do have another turkey, don't we?"

"Of course we do, Jazzarincess!" Jack piped in. "We're the Fentons! And Fentons are always prepared for everything!"

"I put it in the oven an hour ago just in case Jack's new fast cooker backfired again." Maddie said, smiling at her daughter as she pulled down her hood, shaking out her red hair. "After all, what's Thanksgiving without a turkey?" She asked. "Sorry you had to get all mixed up in that as soon as you came in the door honey. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Jazz laughed a little, pausing a moment to get her mussed up hair back into some semblance of order. "I sort of missed this."

"What, reanimated food?" Jack asked, still fruitlessly trying to untangle the Fenton Fisher.

"Not exactly that." Jazz said. "Actually reanimated food is something I could do without. Maybe you guys should give up on the idea of speed cookers? They never work. We've reanimated about every type of meat known to man now."

"We haven't reanimated ham yet!" Jack protested, looking offended by this claim. "Besides, we're the Fentons! And the Fentons never quit!"

"I think it's okay to quit something that brings dead meat back to life." Jazz pointed out, a claim to which her mother seemed to agree. "No, I meant I just missed being here, and being in the-" She blanched a little, color draining from her face as she slowly realized that she was about to admit that she actually _missed _hunting ghosts, in spite of so many earlier protests.

And then she realized that she didn't really care about that anymore.

"I missed ghost hunting." Jazz said finally, smiling at them. "Well, I still don't want to make it my profession, though."

"Oh honey!" Maddie seemed touched, rushing over to hug her daughter. "See, I always knew that you had it in you!"

"She's a Fenton, after all!" Jack chimed in, before joining the hug, wrapping his massive arms around both his wife and daughter, lifting them both off of her feet.

Come to think of it, Jazz had missed her father's bone crushing hugs as well. To be honest, perhaps what she had missed most was the feeling of being home.

Because as strange as her family was, there was no other place she would rather be than with them.


	12. Burn

Author's Note: Shipping ahead! I guess I should sound some sirens or something. Much as most of my fics are Danny/Sam, I do like me some Gray Ghost on occasion, mmhmm. But, here is the next one shot! Coming up next is 'Dragons'! Gee I wonder who that one will be about.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me, as always~.

* * *

Burn

Characters: Danny Fenton, Valerie Gray

Summary: Beware the Florence Nightingale Effect.

* * *

When he winced when Valerie applied the antibiotic, she wanted to swat him.

Really, where on Earth had Danny Fenton come from anyways? She had been chasing that blasted Phantom when a ghost had gotten in her way, which they had in turn, both chased off. However, in doing so, she lost her chance to catch the elusive ghost, and he once more slipped through her fingers. That was when she had found Danny Fenton, groaning in pain from what appeared to be a mild, but large burn on his left forearm.

Her first reaction, of course, was to offer him a ride to the nearest hospital. On her jet sled, they could be there in under a minute. It didn't look bad, but it also wasn't the kind of thing you wanted to go without proper treatment. But Danny had nixed that idea, a look of panic rising in his face that she couldn't understand. Wasn't Tucker the one who hated hospitals? She recalled him having to cower behind either Danny or Sam whenever he passed the nurse's office at school.

Well, maybe it had something to do with when that ghost infected a bunch of kids from Casper High with some kind of weird ghost bug, and dragged them off to a hospital that looked like something from a horror movie. If that was the case, Valerie couldn't really blame him.

Of course, when he had insisted he could treat it on his own, Valerie had just rolled her eyes. As if Danny could treat a burn- he didn't look like he knew the first thing about first aid, whereas she had made sure to go and get herself certified once she began this whole ghost hunting thing. Besides, if Danny had gotten caught in the crossfire like she suspected he had, then she was partly at fault for his injury- therefore it was right that she should be the one to do something about it.

"Just sit still and stop squirming." Valerie said, frowning deeply as she put aside the antibiotic. "Big baby."

They hadn't really spoken since she had gotten her new suit, Valerie thought. Their short lived relationship hadn't exactly lasted very long. It was too dangerous for him to hang around her, she thought- and indeed, it seemed that she was right, as she looked up at the red that was creeping up his forearm. No doubt it would take awhile to heal.

"Sorry." Danny gave her a small laugh. "It just stings a little." He told her.

"This is no joke, Danny." Valerie said, grumbling at him. "What were you _thinking_, hanging around the area of a ghost attack? You could have gotten off much worse." She warned him, putting away the antibiotic and pulling out some bandages.

"I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He said, unable to meet her gaze- he was lying to her, she knew that much. But about what, and why?

She decided not to press it this time. "Well, try not to be next time." She said, motioning for him to hold up his arm, to which he complied. Wrapping the bandages around it, she secured them, but not too tightly. "Make sure you keep that thing washed and clean, and go see a doctor if it starts changing weird colors."

"Oh right, I will." Danny said- there was another lie.

Seriously, what was his deal with doctors? She guessed that Danny had a lower than normal body temperature, if his cold touch was anything to go by, but wouldn't something like that be on his medical history anyways? She didn't understand why he seemed to be so worried about the prospect.

"But, thanks Valerie." Danny said, flashing her that damned grin of his- the one that she liked so much. Against her will, she could feel her face heating up. "You didn't have to do this."

"Of course I did!" She said, and this time she did swat him, right upside the head. "You got hurt because you got caught up in the crossfire, didn't you? I should have made sure there weren't any civilians around before I engaged with either Phantom or the other ghost. That was my fault."

"No, it wasn't." Danny said, a small flinch crossing through his gaze as he listened to her. "It's not your fault, Valerie. Like you said, I shouldn't have been around here. Besides, it's just big. It'll recover in short order. I've gotten worse before."

Oh how he wished that he could put his foot in his mouth right now.

"What?!" Valerie almost hissed, her eyes going wide in shock. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh you know... f-from Dash." He lied, averting his eyes, wanting to sink right into the Earth right now. "And you know my parents are ghost hunters too, so sometimes I get mixed up in all that and just- don't worry about it Valerie."

"Oh no, I'm _going _to worry about it." Valerie said, gathering up her first aid kit and sticking it back in the hidden compartment on her jet sled. She stood up then, offering Danny a hand up. Of course she was worried! Especially since once again, Danny seemed to be lying to her- or at least, not telling her the whole truth.

Danny took it, getting himself to his feet. "Seriously, Val, it's okay." He reassured her. "Something like this isn't a big deal, that's what I was trying to say. I guess I just wanted to say that you shouldn't beat yourself up over things like this? I mean, you're trying to do good by hunting ghosts, right?"

Although she could stand to go after Phantom a little _less_.

Valerie heaved a sigh. "Still." She said, frowning at him. "At least let me drop you off back at home, Danny, if you won't let me take you to the hospital."

After casting a suspicious eye towards her jet sled, Danny gave her a small nod. "Yeah, that sounds just fine. Thanks, Val. I owe you one."

"No you don't. We're friends, right?" She asked, stepping on the jet sled, offering him a hand up. Danny took it, pulling himself up with a kind of effortless ease that vaguely surprised her.

Then again, Danny Fenton always had been full of surprises.

His face fell a little at her words, but he quickly gave her small smile. "Yeah, friends." He said, but the blood that rose to his cheeks gave him a way when she had him place his hands on her shoulders.

More than anything, Valerie wished that she had been looking out for him in the first place, so treating his stupid burn wouldn't remind her of the fact that she was still very much in love with him.


	13. Dragons

Author's Note: Next one shot, fresh out of the oven! Was there even any question as to who this one would be about? I guess this is also my personal headcanon for Dora and Aragon as well. Alas, Dora, I wish we had seen more of you after you left your brother's grasp, you would have been great.

Danny Phantom, as always, is not mine. Next up is 'Darker Urges'.

* * *

Dragons

Characters: Dora Mattingly, Aragon

Summary: It had all started with one simple desire- freedom.

* * *

Many people in her kingdom feared dragons, and rightly so, as they were as vicious as they were powerful, decimating whole villages and leaving terror in their wake. The kingdom was plagued with dragons, at war with them one could say. Her own father and mother will killed by a dragon, forcing her older brother to step up to the throne and take on the winged menace himself.

But deep down, Dora always envied them.

After all, they were free.

And she was not.

It had been different when her parents were still alive- they encouraged their bright young daughter, and brought in tutors from the furthest corners of the Earth. She consumed knowledge as if it were food, and was viewed as one of the brightest and the best in the kingdom. But she knew, she always knew, that her older brother Aragon was jealous- downright envious in fact- and afraid.

He was afraid of losing the throne to her.

He was not as smart or wise as Dora was, although he was far more physically gifted. There was always something... missing in her brother though, although she'd never been able to place it. Something that was critical to a ruler, and to a person, that he didn't quite have.

It troubled her- and her parents as well. And she knew that he knew this.

Thus her older brother Aragon worried that his parents would eschew tradition, and when the time came, would place Dora on the throne instead of him. There were always rumblings about it in the palace, and in the city, low murmurs that the kingdom would be doomed if Aragon sat on the throne- and that in spite of being a woman, Dora had the makings of a very fine ruler indeed.

She knew Aragon hated it, and that there were others who agreed with him.

After her parents tragic and untimely death, it was using the influence of those people that Aragon ascended to the throne. And his first order was to lock away his younger sister, who had proposed a heinous idea- that surely, they could reason with the dragons. After all, this sort of behavior was abnormal, completely out of the blue. It had never happened before- dragons were normally a species that avoided human contact, not sought it out. Sightings of them were extremely rare, and past cases of attacks on human settlements had been because of outside influences- namely, desperation due to impending starvation.

There must be some reason, some cause for it- perhaps they were being manipulated.

Thus, Dora found herself staring down at the world from a tower, and although the room was beautifully appointed and could have everything she could ever need- it was still a prison. A glided cage for a princess.

There was even a guard at the door, a young knight from a small noble family, who had volunteered his services to the prince. The guard was a rather amicable young man, who would agree to bring books from the library to the young princess to read, and seemed endlessly fascinated by her stories and her knowledge. He had a quick, easy smile, and a laugh that could brighten the darkest of rooms. Dora felt her heart flutter a little when she spoke to him, the inklings of the start of love, she knew.

He had tried to beg Aragon to allow the princess leave for the annual royal ball. Surely there would be no harm in it? As the princess, it was still her duty to be a part of such functions. He would watch over her personally even, and make sure that the princess would never leave his side.

Dora never got to go to the ball.

And the guard had been replaced the next day.

Dora didn't think that he was still alive.

She grieved, of course she did- but she also found her resolve in her sorrow, determined to do something about this situation. Her brother had thrown her in the tower prison under claims that she had lost her mind from grief after the loss of their parents. He told people in the kingdom that the princess was 'unwell' and that she would be released in due time when she recovered her mind.

But Dora knew that she was very much well.

Manipulated, she thought the dragons were. And deep in her heart, she had a suspicion that would not leave her. She poured herself into her research- apparently her brother had no opposition to providing her books, if it kept her quiet and out of his hair. He didn't care much for women who spoke their minds, rather viewing them as meaning to only be pretty little decorations. And though she cared a great deal for her appearance, Dora also felt that an intelligent mind was the key to making a woman truly beautiful.

She found it in old tome, it's edges yellowed with age. A gleaming golden amulet, a mysterious green gem of likes she had never seen placed inside. It was said to give the wearer the power to transform into a powerful dragon, and the ability to hold sway over the beasts. An ancient artifact, a treasure that the royal family had thought lost long ago, two of a pair.

She _knew _that amulet.

It was the same one as her brother wore.

Her brother, blinded by his ambition for the throne, was the one manipulating the beasts. People who opposed Aragon and rallied to free the princess were always unlucky- the beasts would always strike in their vicinity, usually leaving them dead in their wake.

If she could get the amulet, then she could end Aragon's reign of terror and set everything right.

That had been the plan, at least.

But everything had spiraled out of control.

* * *

When Dora Mattingly and her kingdom first manifested itself into the Ghost Zone, she had the curious feeling that she had forgotten something of great importance.

Something to do with the shining, shimmering amulets that she and her brother wore around their necks. But no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not recall what it was. It hurt her to think and thus she did not.

Not until time began to move once more, thousands of years later.


	14. Darker Urges

Author's Note: Next one shot is here! My good friend Zoey (zilleniose) was talking about how much she liked stories where Dash gets what's coming to him so uh.

I wrote one.

Danny Phantom is not mine. The next theme is 'All Out War'.

* * *

Darker Urges

Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter

Summary: It all started with an urge.

* * *

He was tired of it.

So very, very tired of it.

It had been their usual routine since middle school. Something would upset Dash, and he would come around looking for someone to take it out on- and it was usually Danny. He was his favorite punching bag, after all.

But he was so tired of being a punching bag.

He didn't have to be one- he was more than that. It was only a godly amount of self-restraint and his friends calming him down that kept him from doing something to the blonde jock oftentimes.

And then Danny had flunked junior year. Mr. Lancer had pulled him aside before the end of the school day, and had given him the news. Even if by some miracle he managed to get his grades up in the last two weeks of the school year left, he still wouldn't be able to do anything about the fact that he hadn't collected the required attendance hours.

He wasn't in the best of conditions at the moment either, he'd barely been able to get any sleep lately due to constant ghost attacks from one of his usual enemies. Judging by the bags underneath his eyes, it was stating to get to the seventeen year old boy. He just wanted to go home and go to sleep for several hours and not let anything else bother him. He didn't even know how to begin with the news he had just gotten.

Sure, he always feared that it might happen one day, but now that the prospect was glaring him in the face, he didn't know what to do about it. He surely didn't know how to tell his parents. There was no way they wouldn't be furious at him- he was going to fail a year! That meant he would have to repeat it and Christ- that meant being separated from Sam and Tucker too, didn't it?

As if he didn't feel out of place enough already, he'd be the kid sitting in class that was one year older than everyone else, and everyone would know it too.

And that was when he heard his voice.

"Hey, Fen_turd!_"

Danny bit back a groan, although he wasn't sure if it was at Dash's choice of nickname for him- he had been calling him that since freshman year, hadn't it kind of lost it's luster by now? No doubt that Dash thought it was the height of originality too. "Dash." He heaved a sigh, rubbing his forehead, before peering over at the tall blonde. "I'm really not in the mood for dealing with you right now."

"Yeah, well, tough." Dash glowered down at him. "I got an F on my history test, Fenton. You know whose fault that is?" He asked him, crossing his arms in front of him and doing his damn best to use his couple of extra inches to loom over the lanky, black haired teen.

"Yours?" Danny said, rolling his eyes, shoving his hands in his hoodie. "_Look _Dash, we've been doing this song and dance since middle school. Maybe you should grow up and accept responsibility for your shitty grades already."

Dash seemed to twitch a little- he wasn't exactly used to Danny talking back to him, but again, the half-ghost just really wasn't in the mood for all of this.

And Tucker and Sam weren't around right now to pull him back and cool him down.

Actually, no one was here, he thought, glancing from side to side. They were alone right now.

Alone.

And that meant he could do whatever he wanted to Dash, and nobody would ever know except for the two of them. He could pay him back for years of torment, for years of suffering, for-

No, he couldn't do that, it wasn't right. He was the hero, and heroes did not use their powers for petty revenge.

"You talk pretty big for someone who finds himself shoved into a locker every other day." Dash glowered, not backing down. It was just Fenton after all, and he'd beat up more times than he could count.

"I outgrew being able to fit in these lockers in tenth grade, Dash." Danny reported, rolling his eyes. "Geez, no wonder you failed your test, you can't even remember your own personal history, much less the history of the world."

"Well you're sure full of yourself today, huh?" Dash asked, slamming his hand on the locker behind Danny, closing the space between them until Danny could almost feel his breath on his face.

"Ugh, Dash." His nose crinkled up. "Two words, breath mints."

"Can it, Fenton." Dash said, grabbing him by the hoodie of his collar, pulling the boy forward. "I've been looking forward to doing this all day, you know? I wailed on Mikey earlier, but it just isn't the same."

"Why Dash, I'm flattered, but you just aren't my type." Danny couldn't help but quip, and smirked a little when the boy dropped him like a cold stone.

"I didn't mean that way, Christ, Fenturd!" Dash glowered at him. What was with him today anyways? Honestly, he was really starting to get on his nerves. "That's it, Fenton. I was just planning on roughing you up a little, but I think your smart mouth deserves a lesson."

Clenching his fist, Dash swung out at Danny, only to let out a howl of pain as he simply stepped to the side, letting Dash's fist slam into the locker behind him, using enough force to make a small dent. Clutching his hand, he glared fury at the raven haired boy. "Oh, and I bet you think that's real funny, huh?"

"Kind of." Danny shrugged his shoulders. "You see Dash, I'm _real _tired of being your punching bag. And you picked a real bad time to come bother me, as it is. You failed a history test? Big _whoop_, come back to me when you're about to flunk your junior year." His hands still tucked into his pockets, the edge of a smirk appeared on his face.

He was alone.

He could do whatever he wanted right now.

And for once in his life, Dash hesitated. Searching Fenton's face, he looked for some kind of sign that he was bluffing, that this sudden confidence- this sudden... intimidation factor that he had developed really, was all a facade, an act of bravado, hoping to chase the bully away. But he found nothing of the sort. Meeting eyes with Fenton proved to be a mistake, as he found himself unable to rip his gaze away from those-

wait.

Were his eyes glowing?

_Green?_

"But you know what, Dash. I'm a nice guy. I'll let you go if you just promise to leave me alone for the rest of our time here." Danny told him, shrugging his shoulders.

"Let me go?" Dash scoffed. Fenton's eyes had already gone back to normal- maybe he had just been imagining things. If anything, he was more outraged that Fenton- the guy he knew was weaker than a mouse, who had barely passed the Presidential Fitness Test in freshman year. He knew he could take Fenton, and yet for some reason, he'd got it into his head that he was the one in charge here?

Oh no.

"Say your prayers, Fenton." Dash hissed, before swinging out again with another punch- this time using the hand he hadn't hit the locker with. However, Danny side stepped it again, not even bothering to take his hands out of his pockets. Before Dash could react, he had dropped inside of his guard, and he felt a rush of air being pushed out of him as a knee collided with his stomach.

Stumbling back, coughing violently as he tried to breathe, Dash didn't have any time to counter Danny's next attack, a solid kick to his chin that sent the larger boy's vision spinning. Groaning, Dash found himself on the ground a moment later, not even noticing when Fenton had gotten behind him and shoved him to the floor with his foot, which was now resting on the middle of his back.

And he hadn't even taken his hands out of his damn pockets once.

"I'm tired, Dash." Danny said, his voice low, a threatening shade to it. "I'm tired of this game we play, where I pretend to be weak and helpless, and don't fight back, because that's the _good _thing to do."

"But see," Danny said, putting more force into the foot that was stepping on Dash's back. "I've noticed I'm not exactly all that great at repressing some of my darker urges when I'm all alone. Just like we are right now, if you'll note. And I just got some really bad news, and I've barely slept a wink this entire week, so I'm not _exactly _in the best of moods right now, Baxter."

"So then," Danny lifted his foot off Dash finally, stepping aside- Dash, however, thought it wise to stay exactly where he was. "This is how it's going to work from now on, Dash. You'll leave me alone, and you'll keep your mouth zipped about this- and I, well," He grinned at him. "I'll leave you alone. Got it?"

Numbly, Dash got to his knees, before slowly nodding, his entire world no doubt turned upside down. "R-right. Got it, Fenton." He stammered.

"Great!" Danny grinned, and all at once, it was as if the tense air that had been lingering in the hallway was gone. "Now that's that settled, maybe I'll finally be able to get some good quality rest." Yawning, he scratched the back of his head, not even giving Dash the time of day as he turned his back to him and walked off.

Dash froze a little when Danny stopped, glancing back at him.

"And Dash?" Danny asked.

"Y-yeah, Fenton?" Dash gulped, trying to not meet his eyes.

"I really suggest you don't tell anyone about our little agreement." Danny said. "Who knows? Maybe I'll catch you alone again sometime."

With that, the lanky half-ghost turned on his heel and promptly left, feeling for all the world as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Too bad he'd never be able to share this with Sam and Tucker.

After all, it had felt so good.


	15. All Out War

Author's Note: I was also prompted to write this so enjoy your dumb body switching Hijinks because I am five years old still. A very open ended ending as I might mess with this a bit more in the future, who knows? And in the name of being very depressing, next up is 'Funeral'.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

All Out War

Characters: Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Danny Fenton

Summary: Walking a mile in another man's shoes does not exactly bring instant understanding- sometimes it just brings with it a bigger fight.

* * *

It all started on a Monday.

No, that wasn't quite right, Danny thought- it was on Saturday that Tucker and Sam started to fight with each other, although he could no longer remember for the life of him what it had been about. Just that it had gotten pretty bad, and in spite of Danny's attempts at calming them down, he only ended up adding more fuel to the fire. He hadn't seen them since then, although he had tried to touch base with them on Sunday.

He'd been prepared for a little spill over from the weekend still when he arrived at school that Monday but well-

he hadn't expected _this_.

"Uh." Danny blinked a little, trying to make heads or tails of the sight in front of him, eyes darting around for some sign of a hidden camera or a ghost or something that would explain all of this. "Sam, are you feeling okay?"

"Why, of course, Danny!" Sam chirped- actually _chirped_- smiling happily at him. That in itself would be enough to cause the half ghost boy an infinite amount of worry, but it was what she was wearing that warped his brain the most. Sam Manson, self proclaimed creature of the night, was decked out in a pink minidress with a floral pattern, and was wearing matching pink pumps. She had switched her normally dark makeup for baby pink lipstick and nail polish.

"Uh." Danny blinked, his mouth working to try and find words to describe his feelings about this with. On one hand, she actually didn't look that bad- but on the other, well, that wasn't exactly the Sam Manson that he knew.

"What the _hell _are you wearing!?"

Danny's shoulders slumped, grateful when he heard Tucker's voice coming from behind him- maybe his friend could help him figure out what was going on with Sam. Was this a ghost thing? This wasn't Kitty again, was it? "Tucker, can you-" Danny began, turning around and then stopped dead in his tracks once he caught sight of his other friend. "Uh."

Danny hadn't seen this look for Tucker since a year ago, when he had temporarily decided to try and change his image, and went for goth. He'd balked at the makeup but apparently- he'd changed his mind. Because decked out in full goth attire, complete with black eyeshadow, lipstick, and nail polish, was Tucker Foley.

Sam's eye twitched a little when she saw this, and her lips twisted into a deep frown. "I could ask you the same thing, Tucker." She said, glowering at him. "What exactly were you thinking when you got dressed this morning?"

"What were you _both _thinking?" Danny asked, glancing between the two of them, feeling all the oncoming symptoms of a headache. What the hell was going on here? Was he still asleep?

"Oh, don't worry about it Danny!" Sam chirped- again with the chirping- and clung to his arm, giving him a quick peck on the lips, which caused Danny to turn bright red. Sure they had just started dating, but he wasn't used to such public displays of affection yet! "I just thought I would try a little change of image for once! Don't you think it suits me~?"

"Hey! Cut that out!" Tucker snapped, glowering down at the girl, all but grabbing her and dragging her away from Danny's arm.

"I have no idea what's going on here." Danny said, wondering if perhaps he was going crazy. No, from the low murmurs of the rest of the Casper High student body it would seem that everyone else was seeing exactly what he was seeing. "Okay, come on guys, cut it out. Is this some kind of joint prank on me or something?"

"It's not a prank." Sam pouted. "What, you don't like me anymore if I dress this way, Danny?"

"What? No!" Danny sputtered, shaking his head. "N-no I just mean, it's not like you Sam. I thought you hated all that pink and that girly stuff." Quickly realizing that she might take that the wrong way, Danny hurried to add onto his statement. "But I mean it does look good on you! I just don't understand your sudden need to change your fashion statement!" He paused, then glanced over towards Tucker. "Or yours for that matter."

Sam and Tucker seemed to exchanged a look them, both opening their mouths at the same time to say something, and thus, cutting each other off. The glower they sent each others way told Danny that their little feud from the weekend was anything but over. "Guys, come on, if something is going on here, can't you clue me in, please?" He asked, half begging right now.

He already had to worry about school, bullies, and ghosts, he didn't have time for his friends acting like nut jobs!

"Actually, hold that thought." Danny said, his ghost sense escaping. "Uh." He paused then, glancing back at his two best friends. "You guys can still manage to cover me in homeroom, right?"

"Of course." Tucker rolled his eyes. "Look we'll talk about this as soon as you come back. If _Sam," _He almost hissed out her name, glowering down at the girl. "Decides to stop acting like some kind of floozy that is."

"I didn't realize you had gotten to be such a stick in the mud, _Tucker_." Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Relax, I'm just having a little bit of fun. Or are you perhaps jealous?"

"What?" Tucker sputtered. "I am _not_."

"Okay well, I'm going to go find someplace... not here to change." Danny said slowly, backing away from the pair. What the hell was _wrong_ with them today?

* * *

Lunch time. Danny still hadn't gotten a good chance to talk to Sam and Tucker yet- but they sure were the talk of the school. Everyone seemed to be whispering about them, but they promptly shut up once Danny turned to look at them. Mr. Lancer had simply thought that the two were engaged in some kind of practical joke and had continued class as normal.

Probably the weirdest part of the day was when Dash had come up to him with an apologetic look on his face, and patted him on his shoulder. "That's rough, Fenton." Was all he said before he walked away, apparently not wanting to be caught speaking to Danny Fenton when there was not a fist about to meet his face.

It wasn't until he spotted Tucker and Sam at their usual table, still quarreling with each other, that finally, everything clicked into place. His own lunch tray clattered to the ground, catching their attention. Wide blue eyes stared at the both of them, as if his brain had come to an utter, screeching halt.

If there was one thing he knew that his friends wouldn't change, it was their eating habits. And yet, on the plate before him, Tucker Foley, self professed meat connoisseur had nothing but a salad, whereas Sam, hater of all things meat, had a piping hot burger.

"Danny!" Tucker hissed. "Tell her to go back she can't eat that!"

"Well you can tell him that stuff's not getting anywhere near my body." Sam huffed, crossing her arms. "Besides, who's to say that I haven't already been eating all the meat I wanted on Sunday, huh? Your parents are loaded after all, imagine all of the choice cuts of steak I could get my hands on if I just asked them. I practically have your mom eating out of the palm of my hand."

"Oh you did _not_." Tucker glowered again. "You know I'm a vegetarian, I would expect you to respect _that _much, if nothing else."

"Hey, I don't see you respecting my lifestyle choices." Sam pointed out.

"That's not a lifestyle choice, that's just you being a picky eater." Tucker quirked a brow.

"Wait." Danny said finally, his brain clicking into gear. "Wait. Wait. Wait." He repeated, holding up his hands, glancing between Sam and Tucker. Peering at Tucker, he raised a brow. "Sam?"

When that got him a nod, he turned his gaze towards Sam. "..._Tucker?_" He asked.

"I'm actually kind of surprised it took you so long to figure out, Danny." Sam- or _not _Sam, Danny thought, that was _Tucker _in there- said. "I would think that you would know your own friends a little better."

"Yeah well, your little fashion statement and your stupid little act from this morning didn't exactly help matters." Tucker- no, not Tucker, _Sam_- said, rolling his eyes. "I thought we agreed we were going to tell him right away on Monday about this if it didn't wear off overnight."

"Yeah, but then I remembered I was still mad at you." Sam smirked. "Speaking of which!" She said, picking up the burger, starting to gravitate it towards her mouth.

"Stop that!" Tucker hissed, reaching over to grab the burger, shoving his own salad underneath Tucker's plate. "Eat this. I am not letting one ounce of meat matter enter my body. You _better _have been _joking _about earlier or so help me Foley I will-."

"Will what?" Sam asked, raising a brow. "You can't deck me, this is _your _body."

"Oh, but you seem to forget I'm in your body. If I find out you ate meat while you were me, I'm going to go get you a nose piercing. Maybe one on the tongue while I'm at it." Tucker smirked.

"Oh no you would not!" Sam glared. "Fine, I'll eat your stupid salad, Sam. Happy?"

"Yes." Tucker smiled at him, before glancing over at Danny. "Anyways, that's how it is. We woke up on Sunday morning like this, and haven't been able to do anything about it since then. I've got a working theory as to what happened but- uh, Danny, you okay?" He asked, blinking a little.

"I think I need to go lie down." Danny said slowly. "You're telling me the two of you switched bodies?" He asked- and then with a sinking realization, it dawned on him that most of the school had realized this before him- even _Dash_!

"Look, it's not the end of the world." Sam began, and Danny had to dimly remind himself that was _Tucker _in there. "You switched bodies with that Poindexter ghost, and that worked out fine, right?"

"Yeah but this is _different_! That was like some weird mixed up overshadowing thing and this- I don't even know how to start fixing this." Danny said, finally taking his seat, his dropped lunch tray entirely forgotten. Seeing this, Tucker- no Sam- handed over the burger he had confiscated from himself- no wait, from Sam, no from- _AGH!_

"Your parents can probably figure something out I bet." Tucker said. "It's got to be related to ghosts."

"Well, I guess that much is true. Everything weird around here usually is. It sounds like something Desiree would do." Danny said, then frowned a little- something was still bugging him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

And then it hit him.

And he wished it hadn't.

Because he turned, looking at Sam, Sam who was really _Tucker_, and recalled the events from that morning. "...so that was _you _hitting on me? A-and you kissed me. On the lips."

"I thought it would bother Sam." Not-Sam shrugged her shoulders, looking pleased with herself. "Boy was _I _ever right."

"So you." Danny began, before he stopped himself, freezing up. "You. You. I. You."

"Oh great." Not-Tucker rolled his eyes, glowering at Not-Sam. "You broke him."


	16. Shock and Awe

Author's Note: This one wasn't actually on my list or even really all that planned, but oops I wrote it anyways? There's this fun AU headcanon going around on tumblr about what if Danny got electric powers to go along with his ghost form instead of ice powers because hey, he was electrocuted right? And I thought that was super neat so I wanted to explore it a little. I would think it would be pretty miserable until he got that shit under control too, poor baby.

Danny Phantom is not mine, and next up is still 'Funeral' as originally planned.

* * *

Shock and Awe

AU

Characters: Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton

Summary: Half-death by electrocution can head to some rather _shocking _side effects.

* * *

"Alright kids, cell phones, PDAs, and any other assorted electronic items on the table." Maddie instructed the fourteen year old duo in front of her.

"Still causing some problems, huh?" Sam asked, quirking a brow, pulling out her cell phone and setting it aside. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Tucker unloaded a virtual arsenal of electronic equipment, something that would most likely take all year. "Is that why it's so hot in here?"

"He blew out the lights and the air conditioner last night." Maddie said glumly. "We've got a backup generator going in the lab, but it's only enough to cool and light that room, so we've all been huddling down there. Danny's still up in his room though. He's sort of in a mood, I'm sure you can imagine."

"Well, maybe we can cheer him up a little, Mrs. Fenton." Sam assured her. "You ready Tucker?"

"Just a few more things!" Tucker told her, digging deep into his pockets, double checking to make sure that he had gotten everything, the little table they had dumped their stuff on all but groaning under the load. "Okay, that's the last of it! Let's go see Danny."

It had been two days since their best friend, Danny Fenton, had been in an accident with his parent's Ghost Portal. There had been two rather noticeable side effects from said accident- and one was the current source of his troubles with all things electrical. Sam wasn't much a science person, so the best way she could explain it was by saying that everything electronic had started to go haywire around Danny- and that wasn't even getting into the static shocks everyone kept getting from him- nor the problem with static cling he kept having.

Which, judging from his hair, was something that hadn't been solved at all.

"Nice hair." Tucker remarked as they entered their friend's room, shutting the door behind him. "Lose a fight with comb?"

"That doesn't even make any sense, Tuck." Danny groaned, placing a hand on his head, trying to get his hair, in a state of messy disarray, into some semblance of order. Instead, his hand sparked, and only made everything worse, leaving the boy to grumble in frustration. "When I woke up this morning, I couldn't even get the sheets off me. Jazz had to come in and help."

"Not to mention you blew the power to the whole house last night. That takes talent." Tucker observed, plopping himself down in the nearest chair. "Your folks are working on something to keep you from becoming a technology dead zone, right?"

"Yeah, but they haven't had much like so far. Mom keeps wanting to draw blood samples too, and I don't think that's such a good idea." Danny said numbly, frowning. "I'm not sure how well she'd take the whole ghost thing."

And that was the other side effect.

Danny was now half-ghost- or at least, that was near enough that they could figure it. Which was a problem, seeing how his folks were ghost hunters.

"So that hasn't gone away either, huh?" Sam asked, leaning over the back of her chair, peering at her friend.

"Nope." Danny said, before two rings of white light appeared around him, and left a white haired, green eyed boy floating in their friend's place. "At the very least there's less of a problem with static cling at in this form." He said, before changing back, grumpily dropping back down on his bed. "I just want to get a handle on all of this already, I'm sick and tired of being cooped up in my room. I'm going out of my mind with boredom here. Can't watch television, can't play video games, can't even browse the Internet..."

"That's rough, buddy." Tucker shivered. "If I were you, I would have gone crazy already."

"You could always invest in books you know." Sam pointed out, quirking an eyebrow.

"Nah." Danny laughed. "I'm not that bored yet. Speaking of boring things, I'm guessing you guys brought me my schoolwork?"

"Of course." Sam said, unzipping her backpack and passing over the folder to Danny. "Mr. Lancer sends his regards. He was worried when he heard you had an accident. Who knew?" She shrugged her shoulders. "And here I thought he was just concerned about the A List."

"Huh." Danny said, taking the folder, opening it up and flipping through everything. This turned out to be a mistake, as sparks flew from his hands and the papers ended up stuck on his fingers. "Ugh. A little help here?"

"I've got it." Tucker said, standing up and helping his friend free himself from the papers, putting them aside on his desk. "I don't know Danny, if you get this under control, I think you could have a really good thing going on here. This and your ghost powers." He said, glancing over at him. "...by the way, can't see you."

"Argh!" Danny grumbled, forcing himself to turn visible again. "If it's not one thing, it's another. It's just a miracle that I haven't gotten myself stuck in the floor yet."

"Don't stress over it dude. Things'll work out soon enough." Tucker assured him. "In the meantime, no school! You gotta look on the bright side, Danny."

"Yeah, well, I'm more worried about being branded a freak whenever I do go back." Danny sighed. "This isn't exactly how I wanted to start my high school career, you know."

"Hey, relax." Sam smiled at him. "Who cares what anyone else thinks about you, Danny. We're your friends, and we think you're just _fine _the way you are- even if you go shocking us left and right, and even if you have ghost powers. You shouldn't let what other people think of you affect you so much."

"Easy for you to say." Danny frowned. "But I guess you're right. It's just a little frustrating right now. I can't control any of this- I mean, what if I never get any control? What if it's like this forever? Or what if my parents find out about my ghost powers and they get the wrong idea? Also it's going to be a _huge _problem for my future if I can never touch electronic devices ever again."

"_Relax_, Danny." Sam said again. "Your parents aren't just ghost hunters, they're inventors. I'm sure they'll think of something, and I'm sure over time all of this will either fade away, or you'll get them under control. Stressing out about this won't help anything- in fact it might only further complicate the problem. Point in case, you are sinking through your bed at this very moment."

"_Gah_!" Danny jumped, pushing up with his arms, and getting his lower body out from the inside of his bed. Once that was taken care of, his lower half turned tangible again, and he groaned, putting a hand on his forehead. "You might be right, Sam. But that's a lot easier said than done."

"Hey, we're your friends, Danny. And we'll be behind you every step of the way." Tucker said, grinning at him. "As long as you never touch any of my electronics ever again."

Danny snorted, rolling his eyes. "Gee thanks, Tuck. Your support is so heartwarming."

"Hey, that's what friends are for!" Tucker said. "Besides, Sam's right, you need to stress out about this a little less. Man, you've got superpowers! How cool is that?"

"It would be a lot cooler if I had any ability to control them at all." Danny pointed out. "But I've got to admit, superpowers are pretty neat." He said after a moment, grinning. "I can fly- how cool is _that_?"

"No way." Tucker said.

"Way." Danny nodded his head, grinning. "I tried it last night- which I guess is how I accidentally blew out the power to the house." He admitted, laughing a little.

"Speaking of that, you must be miserable up here." Sam remarked, wiping a bit of sweat off her brow. "It's sweltering in your room."

"Eh, I don't really notice." Danny shrugged his shoulders. "I'm pretty cold. Mom noticed it yesterday and freaked out over it for awhile before I finally convinced her that I was fine." He told them. "I'd invite you two to come huddle up with me, but I'm a little worried that you'll end up sticking to me. And, I know we're close and all, but I don't really think we're _that _close."

"I think that's a chance I can take." Tucker said, getting up and starting to head over towards Danny. Thankfully, he was interrupted by Maddie, who opened up his door, smiling at her son.

"Danny!" She exclaimed. "Why don't you come on down to the lab, your father and I think we've finally figured something out."

"I hope it works better than the last thing you two made." Danny grumbled a bit, standing up. "I'll be just a second, you two can stay up here." He told them, grinning a little. "Wish me luck."

"Luck!" The two friends echoed, watching him go. From upstairs, they could hear the booming tones of Danny's father, and vaguely, Sam wondered if Jack Fenton knew about volume control.

And then there was the sound of a loud crackle, followed by what sounded like a loud pop. "Nuts. There goes the backup generator, Maddie!" They could hear Jack call out. "I guess this one is going to the scrap heap as well."

"That's alright dear, that's why we have the backup backup generator." Maddie said. "Danny, why don't you go back to hanging out with your friends while we work on this some more? I'll be up with some snacks in a little bit, so why don't you all get started on your homework?"

Sam swore that she could hear Danny grumbling from all the way upstairs, and so when he trudged into the room with an annoyed look on his face, and his hair standing on end, all she could do was simply raise a brow, glancing over at him.

"No go?" She asked.

"No go." Danny heaved a sigh.


	17. Stitch

Author's Note: Whoops, another oneshot out of order. I think I will just stop listing what theme is coming next from now on. Tumblr has filled me with inspiration for various oneshots, for which I thank it! Anyways, here is another Tucker and Danny bro fic which are among the best kinds of fics.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me. To all of you who have reviewed in the past, I thank thee~!

* * *

Stitch

Characters: Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton

Summary: Tucker never exactly thought he would be using his sewing skills for something like this.

* * *

"_Ouch!_ Tucker, be a little more careful, would you?" Danny hissed, shooting a green eyed glower at his childhood friend, who promptly rolled his eyes at him.

"You know, for someone who fights ghosts on a regular basis, you sure are a big baby, Danny." Tucker noted. "Besides, you're the one who didn't want to go to a hospital." He noted, not missing the irony of him recommending hospitals to anyone. "So you're going to have to put up with me."

"Fine." Danny grumbled, raising his arm back up, which Tucker promptly got a firm grip back on. "It still hurts though, you know." He added.

"Duh, you're getting sewn up without any anesthetic. Of course it hurts." Tucker said. "You should be grateful I even known how to do this in the first place, Danny, or you'd be in a bit of a bind."

"I'm sure I could manage." The ghost boy grumbled, glumly resting his other arm on one of his crossed legs, propping up his elbow on it and leaning his chin into his hand. "It can't be _that _hard."

"And that's where you'd be wrong." Tucker noted, picking his needle back up from where Danny's jerking away from him earlier had left it hanging. The two boys had secured an isolated janitor's closet at Casper High, and had barricaded the door. The light in here was a bit dimmer than Tucker liked, but he would have to put up with it. After all, they didn't want to be in a place where anyone could find Tucker Foley sewing up a large, rather deep cut on his best friend's right arm. That would open up a whole wealth of questions and concerns that the two boys didn't really want to get into.

Danny did kind of have a point though, about not wanting to go to the hospital, Tucker thought, setting himself back to work. He was clearly trying to do this as fast as he could, but also as efficiently as he could. Messing up Danny's stitches and having to pull them out and redo them wasn't exactly an option. A hospital, as much as he hated them, would have been a better choice, but even if there was nothing strange lurking in his friend's physiology- which Tucker doubted, then it would still open up the question of where and how Danny had gotten such a deep cut in the first place.

"Skulker really did a number on you." Tucker mumbled, frowning as his eyes darted down the cut. Long and deep, taking up a good portion of his right forearm. "I thought you were always going on about how you could take Skulker in your sleep these days." He pointed out, pausing to briefly glance up at his friend.

"Yeah, well, I guess I didn't expect the new weapon." Danny mumbled, averting his eyes from Tucker's gaze. "Could you stop talking and get this over with already, Tuck?"

"Right, right. You should just be more careful, Danny." Tucker said, setting back to work. The first time he'd been recruited into sewing up one of his friend's deeper cuts he had to take a break at least twice to vomit, and that one had been rather small in comparison to this one. As much as he hated to say it, he had gotten used to this by now.

And he hated to say it because he wished that Danny would stop getting hurt like this. Tucker thought that maybe as years passed and he got a better handle on his powers, injuries like this would stop happening.

Three years, and there was still no sign of them ceasing. There was nothing that he could do about it except grimly set himself to the task at hand.

If you went back in time, and told the him from four years ago that he would be spending an ungodly amount of time using his talent at sewing to stitch up Danny's injuries, he probably would have called you crazy. Danny didn't do anything that dangerous in the first place.

And yet, here he was.

It wasn't always wounds, more often it was clothes, and that was better. Tucker didn't mind stitching up clothes, he did it all the time anyways.

He'd learned to sew from his mother, he recalled, right after she had her miscarriage. Tucker was going to have a baby sister, he was told, and her mother had been looking forward to teaching the little girl all sorts of things when she got older- namely, how to sew. When she lost the baby, and was told that she couldn't have another, it devastated her. Even though he was too young to really fully understand the concept, Tucker had known something was wrong.

Apparently he'd got it in his head to tell his mother to teach him to sew instead, and after bawling her eyes out for what seemed like several hours to him, she finally gave him his first lesson. And he'd just kind of stuck with it. It wasn't the kind of thing he really brought up with people, as he tended to be made fun of for it, but it wasn't like he was actively hiding it. He had been in a Sewing class in Freshman year, after all. It had been common practice for him to carry a sewing kit around him during middle school.

He'd just added onto it later, and kept sterile needles and thread, and a first aid kit with him as well too. He knew that both Sam and Danny had their own first aid kits, and Jazz had bought one as well- although Tucker always suspected that Danny had never let her know how badly fighting ghosts could hurt him sometimes. Even if he did heal quickly, he was still part human, and that part of him was vulnerable.

"There you go!" Tucker said finally, snipping off the thread from the needle and tying it off. He placed the remaining thread and needle in a plastic bag, pulling off the gloves he had been using and tossed them in as well. "Let's bandage you up now."

"I can take care of that myself." Danny grumbled.

"Yeah, but someone else bandaging your arm is always going to be better and more efficient than doing it yourself, Danny. Quit trying to be such a tough guy." Tucker said, flicking his friend lightly on the forehead, before he went for his first aid kit.

"Fine." Danny grumbled. He could hear the bell ringing outside, and heaved a sigh. "And there goes fourth period. Yet another class down the drain."

"Yeah well, at least you'll have a detention buddy this time." Tucker grinned, starting to bandage his friend up. "Anyways, don't worry about it so much Danny. You do good, you know. It would be nice if you could find some way to get Skulker out of your hair permanently though."

"I considered trying to be less interesting, but you know me, I'm such a fascinating guy." Danny quipped, grinning at Tucker, who only rolled his eyes, tying off Danny's bandages. "Am I set?"

"You're set." Tucker said, closing his first aid kit. "Ugh, as much as I hate them, I'm well on my way to a fulfilling career as a nurse." He said, tucking his first aid kit and his sewing kit back into his backpack.

"I think that goes for all of us." Danny laughed, grabbing his shirt and pulling it back on. At least the long sleeves he was wearing today would cover the bandage. "Thanks, Tuck. I owe you one."

"No you don't." Tucker said, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder, standing up and offering Danny a hand up. "But buy me a burger at the Nasty Burger today, and we'll call it even." He said.

"Deal." Danny said, taking Tucker's hand and hauling himself to his feet. "It's a good thing you know how to sew Tuck, or I'd be up the creek without a paddle. I'd have a hard time doing it myself."

"Yeah, well, I wish you didn't have to." Tucker grumbled. "Get hurt that, is. It's hard to see you put yourself through this sometimes, Danny."

"It's hard to go through it, sometimes, Tuck." Danny shrugged his shoulders, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his uninjured arm. "But I have to. There isn't anyone else who can do what I do. Believe me, if there was, I'd be more than happy to pass some of my duties over to them." He laughed. "I'm going on to fifth period, Tucker, before my butt gets fried. I'll catch up with you and Sam after school."

"Right, catch you later. Be careful with that arm." Tucker advised him, smiling. It only dropped once Danny pushed aside the chair he had been using to block access to the closet from the outside, and left the small room.

Shaking his head, Tucker frowned. Pass off his duties to someone else? It was almost enough to make him laugh, and not because he thought it was funny. "No you wouldn't, Danny. That's your problem."

He guessed that he didn't have much of a choice but to have his back when he needed help. But that's what friends were for right? Supporting each other.

Even if that did mean having to stitch each other up from time to time.


	18. Unicorns

Author's Note: And here is a really dumb oneshot about dumb things. There is some mention and allusion to some NSFW content, but it's not exactly explicit or anything. I don't think it merits any worry but I just thought I would put it out there. Then again, with this summary- well, what else can you expect?

* * *

Unicorn

Characters: Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson

Summary: Unicorns- mythological creatures that have an attraction to virgins.

* * *

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to say that again." Tucker frowned into his phone, as he hurried to catch up with his friends, who were apparently in the middle of trying to catch a very annoying ghost.

"Just like I said, it's a ghost unicorn." Phantom told him, grumbling a little as the creature in question slipped away from him again. "Sam, try and head it off!" He called out to her, and the raven haired girl grumbled, attempting to chase after the damn beast.

"A ghost _unicorn_." Tucker repeated, quirking an eyebrow. He had been fighting ghosts with Danny since he was fourteen, but this was apparently enough to suddenly turn the now seventeen year old boy into a skeptic. "Okay, for there to be a unicorn ghost, wouldn't that have to mean there were _actual _unicorns at some point?"

"Come on, Tuck, Sam and I are having a hard time of catching this thing. Neither of us can even touch it, and it keeps running away from us when we corner it anyways." Phantom told him, flying after the aforementioned galloping beast. Although it's feet didn't even touch the ground, it still made sounds anyways. The magnificent, glowing green beast had a flowing mane, which appeared to be made out of fire, as was it's tail, hints of little embers trailing behind them.

"Fine, fine." Tucker grumbled. "I don't see why a damn pony is so good at giving you two the slip though. I was in the middle of AP homework, you know, that stuff's not easy." He pointed out. "Okay, I'm heading towards the park now though. Think you can at least keep it contained in one area?"

"We can try." Phantom said over the phone. "Okay Tuck, I see you heading into the park. You know where the picnic tables are, right?"

"I do." Tucker nodded his head. "Catch you in a bit, Danny." He told him, hanging up the phone. He quickly caught sight of Sam, her ponytail bobbing and weaving as she tried to close in on the beast- which was, apparently, exactly as Danny had described it- a ghost unicorn. Blinking a little, Tucker managed to shake off his surprise. "Sam!" He called out, trying to get her attention.

"Tucker!" Sam called out, glancing over towards him. In her hands was the Fenton Fisher, untangled for once, but from the way her hair was sticking to her face and the sweat on it, Tucker could tell that they had probably been chasing this thing for awhile before Danny called him. The bandage that she had wrapped around her forehead from when she had banged it while trying to catch a ghost with Danny was starting to slip off, and come unraveled. "Thank God, you're here! I told Danny we should have called you twenty minutes ago."

"How long have you guys been chasing this thing anyways?" He asked, watching as Sam tried to reel in the ghost unicorn with the Fenton Fisher, only to find the line pass through it as if it weren't even there. It then let out a loud whiny, before dashing away from her, causing Sam to let out a frustrated grumble, and stomp her feet. "_Too _long, I take it." Tucker quirked a brow.

"My feet are starting to kill me." Sam told him. "I'm not like Danny, who can just fly around as he likes!" She shouted up to the sky, glowering at her floating phantom boyfriend.

"Oh come on Sam, don't be that way." Phantom pouted as he landed by her. "Look, Tucker's here to help, so why don't you take a rest, take a load off? You've already been working hard, you deserve to catch your breath for a few minutes." He said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Sam said, falling back on a picnic table bench, wiping some sweat off her brow. The ghost unicorn, the source of all of that's night's troubles, was floating off in the distance, watching them from afar, as if it were taunting them. She smiled when Phantom placed a cold hand on her forehead, leaning into the source of the chill. "Oh, that's refreshing. You make the best personal air conditioner, Danny."

"I try." Phantom smiled a little, then flushed a little, his cheeks turning bright green when he realized that Tucker was looking at the two of them, a smug look on his face.

"Wow, you two sure are getting close. When exactly are you planning on doing it?" Tucker asked, smirking a little. When that caused Sam to flush, and Phantom to flush further, he only snickered. "Right, right, I got you. You two are too shy for that sort of thing, huh? Anyways, you just leave this sort of thing to old Tuck!" He said, taking the Fenton Fisher. "I've got a ton of homework to get back to anyways."

"Ah yes, the exiting life of an AP student." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Then I'm going to cool my aching feet for a few minutes and let you two dummies try your luck at this thing. It doesn't seem to like me and Danny. Good luck, Tuck."

"Hmph. When you're this smart and good looking, you don't need luck." Tucker snorted. "Come on Danny, let's go round this pretty pony up!"

With that, the two boys split up, Phantom taking to the air. Flying fast, he got behind the ghost unicorn, which seemed to cause it to start, and the creature sprinted away from him, seeming to want to have nothing to do with the ghost boy. "It's heading your way Tucker! Get the Fenton Fisher ready!"

"On it, Danny!" Tucker cried out, getting ready to swing out the line of the Fenton Fisher- only to find that in the time between taking it from Sam and heading off the ghost unicorn, it had already managed to tangle itself into a ball. "Aw man, what is this, headphones?! Gah!" His eyes went wide as the ghost unicorn was charging towards him at top speeds, and it was all Tucker could do to crouch down and throw his hands up protectively over his head.

And then nothing happened, no hooves came down, nothing. After a moment, he felt cold breath on his cheek, and a nuzzle against the side of his head. Frowning, he lowered his hands, tentatively looking up to find the ghost unicorn floating above him, staring intently at him.

Blinking, Tucker slowly stood up, frowning a little as the unicorn didn't budge, only came closer to him, nuzzling his cheek again. "Okay, didn't see that coming." He said, frowning a little. It seemed friendly enough, but then again, he'd thought that about The Lunch Lady too when they had first met- before she had started screaming bloody murder over the lunch menu being changed, that is.

"Tuck, hold it!" He heard Phantom call out from behind him, and by instinct, he jumped into action, wrapping his arms around the ghost unicorn. It was rather tangible to him, and he wondered why Danny and Sam were having such trouble with it, when it seemed so placid. Frowning, he tried to recall what he knew about unicorns.

"Wait." He said, eyes going wide as the realization struck him like a pile of bricks. He almost didn't notice when Phantom sucked the ghost unicorn up into the Fenton Thermos, breathing a sigh of relief as he changed back into normal Danny Fenton.

"_Finally_. Thanks, Tuck, I knew bringing you out here was a good idea." Danny said, grinning at his friend, then blinked. "You okay Tuck?"

"So uh- why were you and Sam having so much trouble catching this thing, Danny?" Tucker began, quirking a brow at him. He could hear Sam heading over towards them, having pulled her aching legs up from the table, and joined the boys. "Seems like it was pretty docile to me. Came right up to me in fact!"

"Who knows?" Sam shrugged her shoulders, taking Danny's hand and leaning into his shoulder, leaning on him for his chill. "Ghosts are weird."

"You know, I remember reading something about unicorns once." Tucker said, working to untangle the Fenton Fisher so it could be neatly stowed away.

"Oh yeah?" Danny asked, arching a brow, before glancing over at Sam, grinning a little as he tugged her closer to him.

"Un-_huh_." Tucker said, frowning a little, giving up on the Fenton Fisher for the moment, instead locking eyes with Danny, and then turning his gaze towards Sam, outright seeming to pout now. "How long have the two of you been banging each other behind my back?"

When they both turned bright red, and Sam jolted away so quickly from Danny that her head banged against his chin, causing them both to groan in pain, Tucker knew that he had them. He couldn't believe this! His best friends were... he knew they were dating and that he teased them about it from time to time but he never expected them to actually DO it!

They just... they both seemed so _innocent_!

"We haven't been-" Danny began, his face a deep shade of crimson, unable to meet Tucker's eyes. "I mean maybe a little- I mean well it's just that."

"Relax." Tucker shrugged his shoulders, then frowned a little. "Hey wait. If you were so eager to call me out here Sam, and unicorns only... hey!" He shouted, grumbling at the goth girl. "What makes you think I'm a virgin anyways?"

"The unicorn doesn't lie, Tuck." Sam raised a brow, although her face was still a faint shade of red. She absently tugged at her bandages, apparently deciding that the drooping, loose things were now getting annoying. "If it makes you feel any better, Dash was the first one who spotted it. It had been following him around for a part of the afternoon, apparently."

"Yeah, well, I just wish you two would have told me you were getting all hot and heavy." He grumbled. "I don't like being left out of the loop, you know. I thought we were friends."

"Sorry Tuck, it's just... a bit of an embarrassing subject to talk about." Danny admitted, scratching his cheek. "What did you want, us to walk up to you and go 'Hey Tuck, guess what, we just had sex!'?"

"Eh, point taken." Tucker frowned, shrugging his shoulder. "Let's just get this stupid unicorn back to the Ghost Zone before it causes anymore trouble." He said. When that earned an agreement from both his friends, he grinned a little- finally he could go back and finish his homework.

Augh, no wonder he was still a virgin.

Blinking a little, another dim realization entering his mind, glancing over at the bruise on her forehead. She had claimed that she had bumped her head badly while fighting ghosts but...

"...uh, Sam?" He asked.

"Yeah?" She glanced back at him, frowning a little.

"...Why is that bruise in the shape of part of your _chandelier_?"

And from the way their faces lit up at that question, Tucker sort of had the feeling that he was going to regret asking.


	19. Problem Child

Author's Note: An extra long oneshot! I considered posting this as it's own story, but I just thought it was best to keep all of my oneshots in one place. So here we have a revelation fic, I guess? I liked writing this one though, so I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Problem Child

Characters: Danny Fenton, Mr. Lancer

Summary: When Daniel Fenton first walked through the doors of Casper High School, Mr. Lancer hardly expected him to turn out to be the student he was now. And the _last _thing he ever expected was to find him sewing himself up in the Home Economics classroom one day.

* * *

"Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_!" Mr. Lancer's eyes went wide, dropping the folder he was using to carry around the student essays he was going to grade today. His gaze fixed on the sight before him, even as the boy floundered to cover up what he was doing, blue eyes widening in shock.

"Mr. Lancer! W-what are you doing here?!" Daniel Fenton sputtered, eyes darting about the Home Economics classroom, his brain going on a complete crash course as he tried unsuccessfully to decide what his best course of action would be. Hadn't he locked the door? Danny groaned internally, wondering if the blasted thing was broken, he really should have taken the time to double check.

Of course, when you were bleeding out from a rather large gash on your stomach, there wasn't all that much time to think.

"I could ask you the same question, Mr. Fenton!" Lancer's eyes remained ever so fixed on the large gash on the boy's lower torso, one that, apparently, he had been in the process of stitching up himself when he had intruded on him. "_Picture of Dorian Gray_, Fenton, you need to get yourself to the hospital!"

Even as the words slipped through Mr. Lancer's mouth, he finally began to look at the larger scene around him, taking in the state of the Home Economics classroom. It was in ruins, as if a whirlwind had blown through it. This wasn't all that an uncommon sight in Amity Park, and it usually meant that a ghost had attacked.

But what on Earth would Danny be doing here then? Good lord, he hadn't gotten involved with the ghost, had he? That would explain his injury- but not why he was treating it himself. And another quick glance back down at the horrible wound revealed that he appeared to be treating it with some amount of skill, as if he had practice doing this. He recalled that at the start of sophomore year, Daniel, Sam, and Tucker had all taken a First Aid course and passed it with flying colors, but this went well beyond the scope of what they had been taught there.

"Mr. Lancer, I can explain!" Danny choked out, feeling his heart beating a million miles in his chest. And blood was still slowly oozing from where he hadn't stitched up the slice to his gut, while he awkwardly held the needle and thread in one hand.

"There's no time for that right now!" Mr. Lancer almost barked, reaching for his cell phone, starting to dial 911. "I'm calling you an ambulance, Daniel, this is serious! You need to get this looked at by a medical professional!"

"No!" Danny shouted, his voice much louder than he intended, and he winced a little when it caused Mr. Lancer to flinch. "Mr. Lancer, please, whatever you do, don't call 911. I'm going to be fine, I swear to God, but I might not me if you call an ambulance. _Please."_

"How on earth could calling an ambulance make you any worse, Daniel?" He asked, put he did lower the phone- perhaps it was because he had caught sight of his student's blood trail. His stomach churned, and initially it was almost enough to cause Mr. Lancer to continue dialing anyways- he had lost so much blood, it was all over the floor, even on some of the chairs, staining the desk that he had propped himself up on...

That's when he noticed that the blood trail had started out being _green._

He'd dismissed it at first when he caught it, thinking that perhaps the ghost who had been here had been harmed as well. Green usually meant ectoplasm, and Lancer knew enough about ghosts to know that they bleed the stuff. It was what they were made up of, after all. But then he had noticed that the green lead directly into the red, and at one point, there was a noticeable area where the green had slowly began to fade into red.

"Trust me, Mr. Lancer, if I went to a hospital, it would only make my life infinitely more complicated." Danny told him, and then seemed to add something underneath his breath, something that the English teacher couldn't quite catch. He could only make out something about a 'lab table', which caused him to frown deeply.

"You're not exactly giving me very concrete reasons here, Daniel." Lancer pointed out, but he did put down the phone- the blood trail was enough to cause him to do that. Whatever was going on here, he had a strong feeling in the gut that the green ectoplasm that was in the room also belonged to Daniel Fenton.

Casper High School's most notorious problem child, he thought. Some of the teachers thought of him that way, although Mr. Lancer had never thought so. He just saw a troubled student, one that was having a problem that he seemed to feel as if no one could help him with. There were some people there who supported him- whatever his secret was, some people seemed to know it. His sister Jazz, his best friends Sam and Tucker... but all three of them were gone now. Jazz had gone off to college first, and Sam and Tucker had both gone on to college last year.

That just left behind Danny.

He should have been going to college with them, in fact, but he'd failed junior year, forcing him to repeat it. He'd passed it the second time around, with much better grades than he had shown in his freshman and sophomore years, and had finally moved on to his senior year. Already eighteen years old, Lancer had noticed that Daniel had more or less be alienated from the rest of his classmates- and not just because of the fact that he was a year older than the lot of him.

It was probably due to the rumors.

It hadn't been so bad when Sam and Tucker were still at Casper High, no, even if they weren't in the same classes anymore, they still met for lunch, and between class periods, even sharing an elective together. It wasn't until they were well and truly gone that Mr. Lancer finally was able to notice how isolated Daniel truly was.

He didn't seem to have any other friends, aside from those two. He didn't seem to be making much of an effort to make them, either. And nobody really tried to be friends with Danny Fenton, driven away by the things said in hushed whispers amongst the student body.

_'He gets hurt all the time because he gets into trouble with gang violence.'_

Absurd, Mr. Lancer had thought, there were no gangs of note in Amity Park. Aside from the ghost attacks, it was virtually a crime free town.

_'Drugs, it's definitely drugs. Look at the size of the bags underneath his eyes. I bet he's doing some messed up shit.'_

Nonsense, if anything, the boy was showing clear signs of insomnia, or some other sleep problem. He didn't have any serious symptoms of drug abuse.

_'He's got to be mixed up in some freaky shit. Don't you think he's kind of creepy? Kid's got to have something to do with all those ghosts in town.'_

Mr. Lancer had brushed that one off too, at first. The only involvement Daniel had with ghosts was the fact that his parents were ghost hunters. If he had a bit of experience with fighting them, then that was probably the reason why.

Now?

Mr. Lancer wasn't so sure.

"I can't." Danny said finally, clenching a fist. "Please, Mr. Lancer, I can't really talk about this. You probably wouldn't understand anyways." He said. "Please just leave me to finish fixing this up."

"I'll let you finish, Daniel, but I'm not leaving this room until I get some answers." Mr. Lancer said, scooping up his fallen papers, and walked over to a desk, turning it upright before he sat down in it, casting his eyes on the black haired boy, who groaned, his shoulders slumping.

He figured he wasn't going to get out of this one easily. But at the moment, at least, he had more pressing concerns in mind. Forcing himself to ignore Mr. Lancer's silent stare, he set back to work, neatly sewing the wound on his lower torso up. At least he'd already safely stashed the Fenton Thermos away in his backpack, which lay to the side of his desk. That would have raised even more questions that Danny didn't want to answer.

How was he going to get out of this one? He already knew that his reputation amongst the teachers was already trashed. He didn't know if he could explain this one away, and he was sure that Lancer would tell his parents no matter what he said. Finishing his handiwork, he tossed the needle and remaining thread away in the nearest trash bin.

"Do you need help with the bandages, Daniel?" Mr. Lancer asked, looking over at him. He had paused to glance over his essays, finding to his great disappointment, the one he had collected from Daniel was once again written in nothing but complete gibberish. He had started writing in the blasted nonsense language in the middle of freshman year, although at first it had only been little slip ups here and there. However, during his sophomore year, they seemed to decrease, at least when it came to his homework. Other teachers thought it was some kind of prank, Mr. Lancer had assumed it was a problem.

Since senior year started, Daniel had been turning in nothing _but _assignments in his nonsense language, and he never saw anything wrong with it when the teacher had tried to point it out to him. He could read it fluently, whatever the gibberish was, and occasionally seemed to slip into it when he spoke as well, without even being aware of this. It was a small miracle that Mr. Lancer had been able to understand everything he'd said thus far.

It was another reason why other students didn't talk to Daniel.

"No." Danny said, shaking his head. "I've got this under control, Mr. Lancer. Uh, are those our essays from this morning?" He asked, taking out the bandages from his backpack. He tied them around his lower torso with the same amount of skill as he had sewn himself up.

"Yes." Mr. Lancer noted. "Although I'm afraid I'll be unable to grade yours, Mr. Fenton. Once again, I can't read a single word that you've written." He said, scanning the paper. Over time he'd come to learn a bit of the nonsense language, through constant repetition of words. He recognized Daniel's name, at the very least, as well as a few common keywords and phrases. Still, most of it escaped him, as if he weren't meant to read these words in the first place.

Danny groaned, his shoulder slumping. "_Again?_" He asked. He had been so sure it had been in English this time! He was starting to seriously worry that he was forgetting how to write in English entirely- what if he stopped speaking it one day?

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Fenton." He said, frowning deeply. "Does this have to do anything to do with the fact that you seem to be involving yourself with ghosts?"

Danny froze at that, his blue eyes going wide. "I'm not-" He began, but the English teacher cut him off.

"You are. I'm not a fool, Daniel. I know the signs of a ghost attack when I've seen one, and it's the only way that your injury could be explained. And then there's the matter of your blood." He said, finding his eyes drifting to the small puddle where the green ectoplasm seemed to change into red blood.

Danny swore underneath his breath, or at least, Mr. Lancer supposed he had, the swear being in that nonsense language of his. The context seemed clear, at any rate, if not the actual words. "Mr. Lancer, I can explain."

"Then explain." The teacher said, raising his brows. "And I don't want any lies, Mr. Fenton, not anymore. Whatever you're doing, you seem to be in way over your head. If you can't give me a good reason not to call your parents right now, and get them to take you to a hospital for an evaluation, then I'm afraid that's what I'm going to do."

"_You can't!_" Danny said quickly, jumping to his feet. He groaned a little at Lancer's expression, realizing he was speaking in ghost again, rubbing his forehead, trying to concentrate on communicating in English. Ever since Sam and Tucker left for college, he hadn't been talking as much recently, so he wondered if that was the problem. "I, Mr. Lancer, there's a good reason for this, and I promise you that I know what I'm doing, but it's... complicated."

"I have all the time in the world at the moment, Mr. Fenton." Lancer told him, leaning back in the chair. "Go on. And do try and keep to English."

Danny groaned, running a hand through his hair. He was not going to get off on this one, was he? Did he even have any choice? Was there anything he could say, anything he could think of that would get him out of this? Anything other than the truth? If he told the truth, Mr. Lancer would understand... but there was no telling as to how he would react to learning one of his students was half-ghost.

"I don't think I can tell you." Danny said after a moment, frowning. "I'm alright, Mr. Lancer, I'm going to be okay, one way or another. I know this looks bad, but this is the exception, rather than the rule." He told him. Okay, it was true that since Sam and Tucker had left, things had gotten harder, but he could still handle, it right? Besides, he doubted an overweight, middle aged Literature teacher could be any good at hunting ghosts.

"Daniel, please." Mr. Lancer stood up, almost imploring his student. "You're getting hurt on a seemingly constant basis- I've heard the other students talk, you know. You barely seem to be getting sleep, you failed your junior year the first time around, and now you're writing in nothing but gibberish. As your teacher, I can't help you unless I know what the problem is. But, as your teacher, I also know when to hold my tongue, if my student is deeply concerned about something."

Danny gave him a long look, before he slowly nodded his head. "Please don't let this leave the room, Mr. Lancer. If I could come up with a convincing lie to get you off the back, I would, to be honest. I don't want to admit this to anyone." He said after a moment, heaving a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "It would probably be easier to show you." He admitted.

"Show...?" Mr. Lancer began, confusion apparent in his voice.

And then it happened. In a flash of light, two white rings appeared around his student's waist, leaving Phantom hovering in Danny's place. Startled, Lancer stumbled backwards, his eyes going wide.

"You're..." He stammered, for once at a loss for words.

"Yeah." Phantom frowned a little, still floating above the desk in a seated position. "I'm Phantom." He said bluntly. "I have been all this time. It's not some kind of possession thing or anything it's... just me." He told him. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about Mr. Lancer shooting him with some kind of ectoweapon, although there was this nagging worry in the back of his mind that in spite of his promise, he would run out here and tell the Fentons that their son was being manipulated by some kind of ghost or something.

"You're... Phantom?" Mr. Lancer said finally, looking at him in puzzlement. "How is that possible?"

"I'm half-ghost." Phantom said simply, before transforming back into Danny, standing back up from the desk. "I don't know any other way to explain it, Mr. Lancer. But you have to promise to not let this information leave this room. If someone finds out about this, if it's the wrong person... Bad things could happen to me, or to other people." He told him, frowning deeply. "Please."

Lancer's mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out the best option here. Daniel clearly had himself in a world of trouble, and was he trying to tell him that he wasn't even entirely _human_? He was half-ghost. His student was half-dead. Half _dead._ How had he never noticed that? Surely there must have been signs, warning bells that should have gone off- how had Danny's own parents never figured out that their own son was half-ghost? Weren't they ghost hunters?

Oh, oh dear.

They were ghost hunters, and they were hunting Phantom.

Their own _son_.

They were hunting their own son.

"Do your parents know about this?" He asked, staring at him.

"No." Danny shook his head. "And I don't intend for them to learn about this, either." He told him. "Please, Mr. Lancer, you have to promise."

Taking in and letting out a deep breath, Mr. Lancer slowly nodded his head. "Alright, Daniel, I'll keep my silence for now. But if I find you like this again, I think I might just have to reconsider." He said.

"You won't, Mr. Lancer." Danny promised him, giving him as small smile. Grabbing his shirt that he had discarded, he tugged it back on, concealing the bandages around his lower torso underneath. He grabbed his backpack and started to head towards the door. Somehow, Lancer got the feeling that while he wouldn't catch Danny in this sort of situation again, that didn't mean that he wouldn't get in it, and he wasn't sure what to think about that, other than from now on, he would be keeping a very close eye on the Fenton boy- for his own sake.

Speaking of which, Mr. Lancer turned back towards the forgotten essays. "Oh yes, while you're still here, Daniel." He said, holding up the boy's own essay. "Exactly what is this nonsense language of yours?"

At that, Danny turned bright red, rubbing the back of his neck again. "Um, it's... ghost." He said after a moment. "I don't really mean to write in it. I _thought _I'd written it in English this time. I guess not."

"I see." Mr. Lancer said frowning. "In that case, the least I can do for you, Daniel, is allow you the chance to try it again. Bring it to me first thing tomorrow morning, and do try to write it in English this time."

"Will do." Danny grinned at him a little. "Thanks, Mr. Lancer." He said, heading towards the door, then paused glancing back at him. "Um, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

"You have my word, Daniel." Mr. Lancer said. "Now go on home. Don't worry about this mess, the least I can do for you is clean it up. Are you quite sure you'll be alright, though?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded his head, biting his tongue so that he didn't tell him that he had gotten through worse than this before. "I'll be fine. I heal pretty quickly. And Mr. Lancer?" He asked, catching the balding man's attention.

"Yes, Daniel?"

"I guess... thanks for not freaking out?"

"You are my student, Daniel." Mr. Lancer said. "Some of the other teachers regard you as a problem child, but I've never seen that. Just a troubled young man. And now that I know what's troubling you, I'll try to help you, if I can. Even if that only amounts to letting you make up some of your work."

"Well, thanks." Danny said again, smiling at him a little. With one last awkward glance, he turned and left the room.

Mr. Lancer watched the door shut behind his student, heaving a sigh once he was gone, wondering how he was going to clean all of this mess up.

And to think, he had only come into the home economics room just to get some scissors to cut a stray thread off of his pants.


	20. Sparring

Author's Note: And after that last, longer oneshot, something a bit shorter! Maddie and Danny bonding, via physical combat. Maddie is the biggest BAMF in the show, you cannot deny that unless you have been fooling yourself.

* * *

Sparring

Characters: Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton

Summary: Half-ghost or not, no son of hers was going to go out there and fight in such a sloppy manner- Maddie was going to have to hammer the basics into him, and there was only one way to do that.

* * *

A sharp kick to his chin sent him flying up in the air a bit, the sudden burst of pain temporarily blinding him, stars dancing in his eyes. Hovering in the air, he held his head, trying to get his vision to clear.

"Now Danny." Maddie lectured him, putting her hands on her hips. "Your opponents are not just going to sit around and wait for you to recover, young man." She said, raising a brow. "You need to show more awareness in these fights. I'm amazed that you've managed to survive until this point to be frank, given how sloppy your fighting skills are.

"They aren't that sloppy." Phantom groaned, shaking his head, the stars finally fading from his eyes. "Besides, most of the ghost enemies that I battle aren't exactly ninth degree black belts."

"While that might be true, having a firm basis in martial arts can provide a strong backbone when it comes to fighting, and it will no doubt give you the upper hand. I've seen you fight some of your stronger enemies, hun, and I can tell you that your fights would go a lot easier if you had some kind of backing in the martial arts." Maddie told him. "Sadly, I'm not sure that you really have all the time in the world to sit back and learn the basics step by step. So that's why I decided to spar with you! Nothing teaches you how to fight better than sparring with a good opponent."

Phantom groaned a little, floating back down to the floor. If he had known that this was how revealing himself to his parents would have turned out, he probably would have reconsidered. But as much as this was a pain, he had to admit that his mother had a point. Maybe knowing a thing or two about actual combat would help him in fighting ghosts, even if most of them relied on their powers to fight.

But it was always annoying when your parents were right about something that you found irritating.

"I have to say though, I'm a bit disappointed Danny. You've been fighting ghosts for around a year now, and you still haven't managed to get a single hit on me yet." Maddie noted. "I haven't even been coming at you that hard."

"It's not like I'm not trying." Phantom pouted. "You're just really slippery."

"Evasion is a good tactic, Danny." Maddie told him. "If your opponent can't touch you, then they can't hurt you. You can't always rely on your ghost powers to do the work for you, otherwise you're going to find yourself in a world of trouble one of these days." She told him.

Ugh, she was right about that too. Phantom cringed, but nodded his head, getting back into a fighting stance.

His mother didn't waste any time closing the distance between them, ducking in his guard with effortless grace, aiming a punch at his face that he barely avoided. He knew that his mother was good at hand to hand combat, but he rarely had a chance to see her in action- he hadn't expected her to be this good! He was barely managing to avoid most of her attacks, forget about even touching her!

Sharp pain exploded in his lower stomach then, and he realized that his mother had taken advantage of his momentary distraction to jab her knee into his gut. Cringing, he took a step back. "Come on mom, this is only practice. Do you really have to hit so hard?" He asked, frowning a little at her.

"Oh, sorry, am I?" Maddie blinked, looking over at him. "I thought I was holding back just enough. We have to work on increasing your endurance as well, young man." She said lightly. "By the way, I was allowed to get that attack in because you didn't put any space between the two of us after you dodged, nevermind how distracted you were. You need to keep these things in mind, Danny."

"I know, I know, you've only told me that like ten times now." He said, unable to help but roll his eyes. That got a slight glower from his mother, and he found her swinging a high kick towards his head, which by some miracle, he managed to block, raising his arms up to shield his head against her leg.

But just as quickly as she struck, Maddie dropped her attacking leg back down, pivoting on her other heel and landing a kick with her other on his unprotected side, knocking him back. "Follow through on your blocks, sweetie!"

"Where did you even learn all this anyways?" Phantom asked, rubbing his side a little. The pain in it was already dulling, thankfully due to his ghost side's rapid healing. He would still probably be sore in the morning.

"I've been studying karate since I was a little girl. And from there I moved onto judo, kung fu, and other forms of martial arts." Maddie told him. "Knowing how to defend oneself is important, after all."

"Yeah, but all of that?" Phantom asked, quirking a brow. "Don't you think it's a little excessive?"

"No." Maddie blinked, clearly not understanding the question. "I think it's all very practical knowledge. And now I can pass some of my knowledge on to you, Danny. Think of our sparring sessions as a fun bit of mother and son bonding!" She told him. "We haven't been doing much of that lately, after all, so it's nice to connect with you every once in awhile."

"Yeah, well, it's not so nice when it's your fist connecting with my face." Phantom grumbled.

"If you knew how to evade attacks properly, that wouldn't be a problem." Maddie noted, and Danny grumbled again- because she was _right_, of course. "Now, come on, let's try again. Let's see you launch an attack at me now, honey, so far I've been the one doing all of the attacking."

"Alright." Phantom said. Clenching his fists, he rushed towards his mother, only to find her effortlessly slipping away from him, pivoting on her heel and grabbing his wrist, forcing him down to the ground with it and keeping him pinned there with one hand.

Smacking his head onto the wood floor in frustration, he groaned a little. "Come on mom, really?" Phantom asked, glancing up at her. "It's like you're not even trying here."

"I'm not, to be honest." Maddie confessed. "I'm holding back a great deal here, Danny. But the good news is, you can only go up from here! Even I started out being hopeless. But you're my son, Danny, and you have a lot of me in you, so I'm confident that you'll eventually be able to catch up to me."

"I guess." Phantom said, frowning a little. "I don't exactly like getting my butt kicked after all." He said with a small chuckle. "And it would be nice to have something to give me the upper hand in my fights against ghosts. Like against Plasmius." He said. He hadn't yet told his parents about Vlad being half ghost, and about him being 'The Wisconsin Ghost' yet. He wanted to hold on to that card for awhile, see if it could give him the upper hand eventually. Naturally, he hadn't yet told his archenemy that he had told his parents the truth about him being half ghost, either.

Boy, he couldn't wait to see the look on Vlad's face when he learned that Danny now held a card that he didn't.

Of course, somehow he also doubted that Vlad Masters was a ninth degree black belt himself. Maybe his mother was onto something here after all- perhaps there was a benefit in these sparring sessions she had insisted on. Even if they did mean he was just going to end up getting his ass handed to him by his own mother most of the time, if he could learn something from them, then that was for the best, right?

"That's the spirit!" Maddie chirped, standing up and helping her son to his feet. "Now then, shall we begin again?"


	21. Trance Tulips

Author's Note: I really have no one to blame this on other than myself and maybe Zoey. Excuse me as I revive something that we concocted in 2006.

* * *

Trance Tulips

Characters: Sam Manson, Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton

Summary: Of all the inventions, the Fentons had made- this was probably the most _annoying_.

* * *

When Jazz had called Sam frantically over the phone and had told her to come over to their house quick, because something had happened to Danny, Sam was prepared for the worst.

She wasn't exactly expecting Danny to be lying on the floor of his room, looking as if he were in a world of bliss, a potted plant on his chest that he was happily holding on to. It wasn't a flower she had ever seen before- it was pure white, with only one bud, and appeared to be some sort of mixture of a tulip and a rose. Danny barely even noticed Sam as she came into the room, so transfixed on the flower.

"He's been like that for the past hour." Jazz groaned, rubbing her forehead, clearly at a loss. "And he gets very upset whenever I try and take it away from him. I don't know what to do here, Sam."

"I think I'm going to need some details about this first." Sam said, casting a lingering glance back towards Danny, before she turned her attention towards Jazz.

"It's called a Trance Tulip." Jazz told her, rubbing her forehead. "My mom made it. I didn't even know she knew the first thing about plants!" Throwing up her hands, the older girl passed about the room, rubbing her forehead, trying to fight off a headache. "It's supposed to have an effect on ghosts that makes them calm and mellow, or in the case of Danny over here, apparently make him more than a little high."

"So it's ghost catnip." Sam said bluntly, cringing a little. "That's just great."

"Sam~." Danny peered up at her, finally seeming to notice the Goth girl, a wide, almost catlike grin on her face. Taking the plant in his hands, he sprung to his feet with the sort of grace she didn't even know he could have in his human form. He grinned as he ambled over to her, stopping in front of her and resting his head on her shoulder, still grinning. "Hi, Sam!"

"Hello to you too, Danny." Sam said, shrugging him off her shoulder. "Come on Danny, don't you think you should put down that plant for a few seconds?" She asked him, extending her hands to take it.

And surprisingly enough, after staring at her hands for a few seconds, he put it right in them. "Okay!" Danny declared, his blue eyes wide and shining. "I'll give this to you Sam, because you're important! And special! And important! I love you."

Sam's faced turned bright red at the sudden confession, but she shook it off, knowing that Danny wasn't exactly in his right mind. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jazz was trying to decide between being frustrated that she wasn't important enough to be given the Trance Tulip, or if she should be embarrassed at having witnessed this exchange. Either way, she chose to make herself scarce, no doubt planning to grab something to chase the scent of the Trance Tulip away- or, possibly set it on fire.

"That's very nice of you to say, Danny." Sam said, setting the Trance Tulip aside on his desk, trying to play it cool. "I'm flattered. But I don't think you're feeling quite like yourself right now, so maybe you should consider lying down."

"Okay!" Danny gave her a big grin, and in the next moment, Sam quickly came to regret what she had just said, because the next thing she knew, she found herself sprawled down on the floor, with Danny lying on her chest. "You're so warm, Sam!" He told her, contently lying his head down on her stomach- and then he actually started to _purr_.

Sam half expected cat ears and a tail to pop out, but managed to squirm her way out from underneath Danny, although he pouted when she did. "That's just because you're cold." She told him, heaving a sigh. It wouldn't do for Jazz to come back in the room and find them like this, she knew that she could never live it down. "Maybe you should just take a nap and let all of this get out of your system."

"But it's nice~." Danny said, getting to his knees, giving Sam a doofy smile. He scooted closer to her, and nuzzled her cheek a little with his head, purring some more. Sam twitched, casting a fierce glower towards the bloody plant that had started all of this. She was a huge plant lover, but this was enough for her to want to destroy this damn thing with very little regrets.

"Come on Danny, knock it off." Sam hissed, shoving him away from her a little- which caused him to pout, little tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. Groaning, Sam rubbed her forehead, before glancing over towards him, crossing her legs in front of her and patting them. "Here." She said. "Will you take a nap if you can sleep here?" She asked, sounding a bit defeated.

"Okay!" Danny quickly grinned, and all but dove into her lap, resting his head in it so that he could look up at her. His blue eyes met her violet ones, and he gave her a happy little smile- before very quickly passing out, all too at ease sleeping in her lap like this.

When Jazz opened the door, cleaning supplies in hand, she paused and took one long look at them, before starting to sneak back out of the room. She was stopped, however, with Sam's silent glare, telling her to get the goddamn Trance Tulip while she had the chance and make sure that Danny could never find it again.

Out of all the inventions the Fentons had made, this, by far, was one of the most _annoying_.


	22. (dis)Harmony

Author's Note: And a rather short, but an also equally stupid oneshot! What happens when you combine the two worst singers on the show? Horrible, _horrible_ things, that's what.

Danny Phantom, as always, does not belong to me.

* * *

(dis)Harmony

Characters: Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson

Summary: Sometimes, people have bad ideas. And then- then there are the REALLY bad ideas. Karaoke night was one of those.

* * *

In retrospect, they really should have realized that this was a terrible idea.

Go try out the new karaoke place, it'll be fun, he thought, you can go with your friends and relax. He had won a free ticket in a raffle at the grocery store anyways, so why waste it?

He really had to start seriously thinking over any ideas that he had, because by far, this was one of the worst that he had ever had. Then again, it wasn't exactly like Danny expected to have to deal with much more than just Tucker. And he would only be able to sing a few songs, right? They could put up with that, right?

And then Jazz decided to invite herself.

That's when the trouble began.

The night had started off normally enough, and Sam modestly took the first round- and pretty much everyone was pleasantly surprised to find that she could actually sing. Danny had never known that about her, and to be honest, he found it kind of attractive.

Danny had more or less been forced to go next, and although he was bright red throughout his entire song, he apparently had earned himself a fairly warm reception. Apparently he had singing talent, who knew?

Tucker was supposed to go next- or he was, until the Box Ghost popped his head in. Danny wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but somehow he ended up taking a round- and in a shocking turn of events, he was actually kind of amazing. Sure, his song was entirely about boxes, and honestly, Danny was equally as surprised by the fact that there was a song entirely about boxes in the karaoke catalog as he was about the Box Ghost's voice.

After sucking the Box Ghost away in the Fenton Thermos, everyone cringed, knowing that it was Tucker's turn next. Sam made a wise choice, speaking up and saying that she was going to the bathroom, all but fleeing for her life.

It was bad. Tucker was tone deaf and had no idea about it. Danny couldn't even begin to imagine how on earth he'd never managed to notice this, but he guessed that Tucker sounded good in his own head at least. Then again, this was the guy who seemed to think of himself as something of a Casanova, when the only time he had ever dated someone was either because Valerie wanted to get closer to someone who knew someone whose parents hunted ghosts, or because he was picking someone up on the rebound.

Danny was rubbing his ears, still trying to get the sound of Tucker's unholy screeching out of his ears when Jazz went up to sing. Sam arrived back in the room just in time to see his sister up at bat, and quickly fled the room for a second time.

And it was then that Danny remembered that his sister was _also _a horrible singer.

The ensuing racket made the half ghost boy reach up to check if his ears were bleeding or not, because it sure felt like it.

But they could still get through this... right?

"Oh god." Sam whispered, her eyes wide in horror as she huddled against her best friend. Their worst fears had come to life. Had the Fright Knight slipped in without them noticing? Because it sure felt like it.

Jazz and Tucker were singing a _duet_.

"They _harmonized_." Sam whispered, torn between clinging to Danny out of sheer terror or clamping her ears and trying to drown out the noise. She hadn't been lucky enough to escape this time.

"Note to self. Karaoke night. Bad idea." Danny whimpered. Somehow, his sister and his best friend blending their voices had only managed to produce the most unholy screeching sound that he had ever heard in his entire life. If they accidentally summoned Satan- or perhaps _Cthulhu_, well, Danny probably wouldn't be all that surprised.

"Phew!" Jazz wiped her brow after the duet ended, and Sam and Danny almost had to resist the urge to celebrate. Their joy quickly turned to horror, however, when Tucker spoke up.

"We sound great together Jazz! We should really sing together more often." He said.

Oh no.

What had they done.


	23. Rats in the Attic

Author's Note: I guess you can kind of consider this one to be a followup to Unicorn? It's a _little_ NSFW, but it's not really anything major, only implications for the most part, so you don't have to worry about anything like that. This too, is Zoey and Becca's fault, they are horrible influences on me and I really should stop talking to them.

* * *

Rats in the Attic

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson

Summary: Always remember to lock your doors kids.

* * *

It was one in the morning when Jazz Fenton found herself dragging herself out of bed, groaning all the while. Her eyes still blearily from sleep, she grumbled, tossing off the covers, her toes curling briefly as they met with the cold floor. Rubbing her forehead, she frowned, glaring up towards the ceiling.

So they weren't just in her dream then, huh.

"Bloody rats." She grumbled, fumbling around for her lamp's on switch in the dark, flickering it on. Using it to find her slippers, she quickly tucked them on, growling as the banging sounds continued. She imagined that they wouldn't wake her parents- her father could hear anything over his snoring, and her mother always wore earplugs because of it. Danny, when he was home, slept like a rock, probably due to the fact that he lost so much of his sleep fighting ghosts. She couldn't blame him.

Which just left Jazz to deal with the rats in the attic. She thought it was rats anyways. It could have been raccoons or possums, or something of that nature. It was winter now, it wasn't surprising if they decided to take shelter in the warm, comfy attic of her home. That said, she didn't exactly want them in here, making banging noises that kept her up at night, like they had last night. She'd just put up with it then, but they had gone on for quite some time, and just when they thought they had stopped, and she was about to drift off again, not twenty minutes later, there had started all over again. They had eventually drifted off after that, thank God, but Jazz wasn't going to endure this again.

Groaning again as the banging got louder- what were those damn things even doing up there?- she headed towards her door, yawning as she did so. Where did her parents keep the Fenton Anti Creep Stick anyways? She knew it was somewhere downstairs- maybe in the coat closet, she thought, since it wasn't really a piece of anti-ghost weaponry. Trudging down the stairs, she nearly stumbled down them in her half asleep state, managing to catch herself on the railing before she fell flat on her face.

"I'm too tired for this." She grumbled, rubbing her forehead. She wondered how her brother dealt with this night after night. Jazz was miserable if she missed even one night of good sleep- she guessed her brother had just built up an immunity to it over time, which she wasn't sure she was happy about.

Yawning, she opened the door to the coat closet, searching it with tired eyes before she found her prize. Grabbing the Fenton Anti Creep Stick, and a flashlight she found near it, she headed back upstairs, with the intention to go up to the attic. She would chase these bastards out of her house, if it was the last thing she did.

It took her a few moments, perhaps due to her exhausted state, to realize that the sound seemed to dampen after she headed up the stairs towards the attic. Blinking her eyes slowly, she frowned, sleepy brain struggling to click into gear, before she very slowly realized that it wasn't coming from the attic. Frowning, she carefully descended back down the attic stairs, putting them back away, as she looked about in puzzlement.

Great, had rats gotten into the rest of the house? She didn't mind the ones that Sam kept as pets that she brought over from time to time, but non domestic rats still gave her the heebie jeebies.

Well she wasn't going to get to sleep with this racket going on, so she tried to determine where the source of the sound was, at the very least. Heading back towards the stairs, she paused at the top of them, her hand hovering on the railing before she glanced back, lips twisting in a frown.

Was that coming from Danny's room?

Pausing, she tilted her head, listening, now slowly becoming more awake. Yes, yes, it was she thought, and suddenly, a bit of worry gripped her. What if Danny was fighting a ghost in there? Her grip on the Fenton Anti Creep Stick tightened, and she slowly made her way into the room, creaking open the door. As she did, the sound of rhythmic pounding got louder, causing Jazz's eyes to dart about the bright room, only now noticing the lights were still on, looking for the source.

And then she turned her attention upwards, and very slowly, turned bright red.

Because that was most definitely her little brother, tangled up on the ceiling with Sam, engaged in an act most unmistakable.

"Jazz!" Danny hissed, his green eyes going wide, face turning bright green. Sam's face equally turned bright red, although she seemed to glower at her boyfriend, as if silently swearing at him for not making sure that he had locked the door first. "Uh, I can explain?"

There was a long pause there, a million questions flying through Jazz's mind then. But in the end, only one came out- "Are you using protection?" She asked, the words sound rather dumb in her ears.

"...yes?" Danny said after a moment.

"Okay then." Jazz said, suddenly feeling much too tired to be dealing with all this. "Please keep it down, I'm trying to sleep." She told them, carefully shutting the door behind her. She could hear Sam faintly hissing at Danny from inside the room, and it was all Jazz could do to cover her own bright red face with her hands.

It wasn't like she was expecting them to remain chaste- they were teenagers after all but-

_on the ceiling!?_

* * *

"You too, huh."

Jazz's gaze flickered over to the younger boy sitting next to her, an eyebrow quirked over the frame of his glasses. There had been an awkward silence that hung between Sam and Jazz that day, and she knew it was clear to anyone around them that something had surely happened.

"And _where _did you find them?" Jazz asked, frowning a little. Somehow, she wasn't all that surprised that this wasn't the first time this had happened.

Tucker just shook his head, giving Jazz a look like she hadn't seen anything yet. "Oh no, it's not a matter of _where_- it's a matter of _how_."

"Do I even want to know?" Jazz asked, suddenly having a feeling that she was going to regret even asking.

"Well." Tucker paused, lifting a brow, casting his glance back towards Danny, who was in the middle of a fight with Skulker. "You ever wonder how Danny got so good at duplication so fast?"

Yep, she was right. She _definitely _regretted asking.


	24. A Matter of Experience

Author's Note: *drops this here* *slinks away*

This is still tumblr's fault.

* * *

A Matter of Experience

Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter, Mr. Lancer, Kwan, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson

Summary: Out of all the kids to raise their hand- probably nobody expected Danny Fenton.

* * *

The day had started out just like any other day. Danny had no reason to expect that this would be the day the entire school suddenly changed what it thought about him, at least for awhile. He'd woken up, got breakfast, made it to school without any ghostly interruptions for once, and had arrived in class just after Sam and Tucker.

And that's when Mr. Lancer announced that they would be having a special class that day- sex education.

"Well, that's something the two of you don't need a class in." Tucker observed dryly, shooting them both a smug look. "Maybe you should go up and tell Mister Lancer that you should be excused on account that you know so much about it already."

"Shut it, Tucker." Danny grumbled, although his face was beet red, Sam's only a few shades lighter than his. "It's just a stupid state required thing."

"Technically, we should be lucky we even have it all, provided it's not abstinence only." Sam spoke up, coughing a little to cover her fading blush. "Sex education is severally lacking in the United States, and because of that-"

"Young couples like the two of you are just banging away all hours of the day?" Tucker smirked, clearly taking any chance he could get to rib the two of them. After all, they had hidden the fact that they were doing the nasty from him, so he deserved a couple of snark filled words here and there.

"Danny and I practice safe sex." Sam whispered, glowering at him. "Because we're smart, and we know better."

"Yeah, yeah, I know Sam, I'm just teasing." Tucker shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want one of your activism lectures."

"They _aren't_ lectures, they're full of life changing and eye opening information." Sam huffed, crossing her arms in front of her.

"That are told in the form of lectures." Tucker finished, quirking a brow. "Come on Danny, looks like Lancer is herding all the boys off into another room. Let's go before we are trapped by the devil powers of Sam, Lady Activist."

"Can it, Tuck." Danny rolled his eyes, grabbing his book bag. "Sorry about him. I'll catch you later Sam. Try not to argue with the teacher too much, okay?" He asked, leaning down to kiss her on the head.

"There will be an attempt, but I will make no promises." Sam grinned.

"That's the best I can hope for." Danny grinned a little, which got a punch to his arm. "Come on Tucker, we wouldn't want to be late to the fascinating world of hearing middle aged people talk about sex."

"Ah yes, one of my favorite activities!" Tucker agreed, nodding his head solemnly, although he was unable to keep the edge of a smile away from his face. "Along with clipping my mother's toenails and changing diapers."

The two teens followed behind as Mister Lancer lead them to another classroom, and took a seat towards the back. At the very least, this was a class that Danny could safely sleep through, he thought, yawning a little. If there was a test on this, he'd eat his shoes.

"Now I know this isn't the most fun class, but I expect all of you to act like the mature seventeen year olds that you are and pay attention." Mister Lancer began. "As you know, we're required to give this class to our juniors every year, as per state law. It will go much more smoothly if I don't have to hear snickering every time I say the word penis."

Of course, there was a bit of snickering then, and Mr. Lancer simply rolled his eyes. Oh how he hated this course. Still, there was nothing else that he could do, save for getting it over with.

"No, let's see an honest show of hands here." Mr. Lancer began, turning back to the class. "There's no punishment for this, so don't be afraid if the answer is yes, we won't be contacting your parents." He assured them. "Please raise your hand if you have already began having sexual intercourse?"

Ah, so no hands were going up these year, what a chaste bunch of-

hold on a moment.

There was in fact, one hand. And the owner of that hand was very slowly realizing that he was completely alone, his blue eyes going wide as they darted about the classroom, his face increasingly turning bright red.

"Seriously?" Danny squeaked out, glancing around the classroom, his hand still up. "No one else?"

"_Seriously_?" Kwan was the first one to speak up, looking more fascinated by this sudden development than anything else. "_Fenton_? You've had sex? It's with Sam right, the goth chick?"

"Oh come on, you know he's lying about it." Dash rolled his eyes, sneering at Danny. "What you think this makes you cool or something?"

"_Moby Dick_, Mr. Baxter, tone it down. We aren't here to shame Mr. Fenton for his life choices. I assume, and I hope, that you and Miss Manson are using protection?" Mr. Lancer asked, quirking a brow.

Danny slowly nodded his head, his hand finally coming down from where it had been frozen in place as he could feel the eyes of his entire class baring down on him. "Y-yeah. We use it all the time." He winced then a little, as a faint chattering started- oh great. Not only would the whole school know that he was having sex with Sam, they would soon now that they were having it rather frequently.

He just wanted to the earth to open up and swallow him whole, and Tucker's snickering wasn't helping. He wondered how Sam was faring.

Dash just snorted, rolling his eyes. "Oh come on, nobody's going to believe you Fenton. You probably don't even know what it looks like."

"You mean a vagina?" Danny observed, quirking an eyebrow- and then a faint smirk appeared over his face when Dash turned bright red at the very mention of the word. "Seriously Dash? The word vagina embarrasses you? It's a normal part of female anatomy, you know."

"Dash, Dash." He could hear Kwan not whisper, as the football player leaned over to his blonde friend. "I think Fenton is telling the _truth_."

"Quiet down class." Mr. Lancer cleared his throat, glowering at them. "Well then, as I said earlier, Mr. Fenton, this information will stay in this classroom." He said, casting a threatening glower to his students- not that it would have much effect, he suspected, wondering why they were even required to ask such a thing at all. Did the people who designed this course have no idea how high schoolers acted? They were a very chatty group of people, and it got even worse if the piece of information they got their hands on was rather juicy.

As he imagined they would now.

Danny seemed to know it as well- but on the other hand, he did somehow seem amused that he finally had something over Dash.

* * *

Danny was right. By lunchtime, everyone in school seemed to know.

According to Sam, there had been other girls in the room with her who had raised their hands, but people had taken a double take when she did. They all knew that she was dating sweet, unassuming Danny Fenton, so it seemed as if nobody expected that he was tapping that.

But the amount of whispers and hushed giggles he got from girls was becoming worrying.

"Sam?" Danny asked, hesitantly glancing over towards his girlfriend. "Did you um, say anything to cause all of this?" He asked, glancing towards another group of girls who were all staring at him, chatting in hushed whispers. When he turned to look at them, they quickly flushed bright red and turned to look away, still whispering amongst themselves.

"Oh well," Sam couldn't help but grin a little. "I might have started to argue with the teacher a little. It's just that Miss Testlaff clearly had no idea what she was talking about and I didn't want anyone to get any misinformation that could color their sex lives forever... I mean, she didn't even think the _clitorises was a thing_. I had to set the record straight Danny. And I uh... might have used some of our more mundane experiences as examples." She said, eyes darting away from him.

It took every once of effort Danny had to not just simply turn intangible and fall through the Earth itself, just to get away from it all. "...are- are you serious."

"She said mundane, Danny, how bad can that be?" Tucker rolled his eyes. "By the way, if you're not going to eat your french fries, can I have them? You haven't touched a thing since we sat down."

"Tucker, I don't think you _understand_." Danny whispered, white as a sheet. "By mundane, she just means the stuff that _doesn't_ involve my ghost powers."

"Still doesn't sound so bad." Tucker shrugged his shoulders, swiping one of Danny's fries anyways, and munching on it.

Almost as if taking this as a challenge, Sam leaned over and whispered something in Tucker's ear. His eyes promptly went wide, and he nearly chocked on his stolen fry, quickly grabbing a glass of water and forcing it down, staring between the two of them.

"Why the hell do the two of you even _have a safe word!?"_


	25. Flying

Author's Note: And a rather short drabble for the 'Flight' theme of Phanniemay, the theme a day calender that is going on around tumblr. I uh, did one for the first, Bruises, but if I posted that here I would probably have to up the rating to mature. If you guys really want to read THAT one, it's on my tumblr, under the 'writing' tag. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I hope it's obvious who the second essay belongs to!

* * *

Flying

Characters: Mr. Lancer

Summary: When he had asked for students to turn in an anonymous essay on what the most wonderful feeling they had ever experienced was, he hadn't expected to get two back with the same answer.

* * *

The theme of the take home essay was The Most Wonderful Feeling You Had Ever Experienced.

Mr. Lancer had assigned it to his Creative Writing students for homework, and it was to be anonymous, typed, so that he had no way of knowing whose essay belonged to who due to their handwriting. He wanted his students to feel free to express themselves on the subject matter openly, without fear of being judged. He had tallied their names off as they turned them in, they would be given credit for this one so long as they handed something over.

Some of the students had used this as an excuse to be lazy, barely even writing a page on the assigned subject, and he had sighed when he had first seen them, setting them aside. Those headaches, he would deal with later, after comforting himself first with some of the ones that looked more promising. Technically, he didn't have to read them given the nature of the assignment, but Mr. Lancer never wanted to turn into one of those teachers who barely even glanced at their student's work, before slapping a grade on it.

His hand paused on top of the first one on the new pile, frowning deeply as he scanned over it. He didn't need a name on this or handwriting which he could connect to a student, to know who had written this one. There was no mistake, the only student who wrote in such strange language was Daniel Fenton. It wasn't as bad as some of his other assignments, just a few stray words of nonsense here and there, but still entirely unreadable in some places.

But it was the subject of the essay that caught his eye, for it was 'flying'. He didn't know that Daniel cared for such a thing, he thought, glancing over the essay, his confusion only growing. When he saw the word flying, he assumed that his student had meant in a plane- however, judging from the way he wrote about it, it sounded as if he were doing flying all on his own.

Shaking his head, Mr. Lancer couldn't help but wonder why nobody else who taught the boy seemed to notice how strange he was. Still, aside from the parts he couldn't understand, it was a good essay, and rather well written. He would have given it a solid B had he been grading these. It was almost poetic, in some ways, something which Mr. Lancer never knew Daniel even had in him.

He guessed sometimes his students could still surprise him.

Putting it aside in a new pile, Mr. Lancer began to shift through more of the essays, stopping to carefully read each one. Ah, here was one on the thrilling feeling of making the touchdown that won the game- that could only belong to Mr. Baxter or Mr. Chen, he thought. They had put a fair amount of effort into it, more so than any of their other assignments. He supposed that some topics simply brought out the writer in people.

He read through a few more before he had to pause at another one, frowning. He couldn't tell who this essay belonged to, although it was another one that was very well written. Oh, to be sure, there was no poetry here, and yet, it was somehow moving. But he couldn't help but notice that it was on the exact same subject as Mr. Fenton's- on flying.

And once again, they didn't seem to be talking about planes.

He read over the paper, wondering whose it could be. The writer described facing a period of adversity in their life, only to find something amazing, something that they had never before experienced- flight. From the sound of it, they had been given this gift by someone else, someone who they didn't even know, which caused a small frown of concern to form on Lancer's lips. That sounded like a fairly risky business to him, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

Still, this gift seemed to bring the writer such elation, such a thrill, like they had never experienced. Perhaps some kind of sport, then, Mr. Lancer wondered. Hang gliding, perhaps, that would do the trick, he thought.

He chuckled, silently, setting aside this essay, wondering at the fact that there were two with the same topic, in such a small pool of students. It looked like there were two people in his class who really should consider speaking to each other more. Perhaps Danny Fenton should consider branching out of his usual circle of friends for a change.

Who knows, he might even find someone he liked.


	26. Phantom Days

Author's Note: Apparently the end result of me not knowing what ship to pick for today's Phanniemay theme (favorite ship) was to write up a mock intro for a dating sim. If you don't know what a dating sim is well- it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like? A video game in which the goal is to end up 'dating' a girl (or a boy). So, here we have a mock intro for the very non-existent Phantom Days, a Danny Phantom themed dating sim revolving around the three main girls (also Dora, Ember, and Tucker are secret unlockable options because I sort of ship those too.)

This is, by far, the dumbest thing I have ever done.

* * *

**PHANTOM DAYS**

_An Introduction_

* * *

Welcome to the halls of Casper High School, and the first day of the start of the rest of your life! Three months ago, you had an accident with your parent's Ghost Portal, resulting in you gaining supernatural ghost powers, and taking on the heroic alter ego of Danny Phantom- not the most creative of names, you admit, seeing as your real name is Danny Fenton, but you sort of came up with it on the fly.

The same accident that gave you your powers also opened up a portal to another world- the Ghost Zone, and since then, ghosts have been flowing out of the portal non-stop. Since you're the only one with powers, and your parents are more or less incompetent at what they do, it's up to you to stop them and make sure they're all sent back to the Ghost Zone. It's not an easy job, because you have enemies on every side, just waiting for you to slip up.

And then, of course, there's the _girls _in your life. They sure as hell don't make anything easier.

There's your faithful and (mostly) loyal childhood friend, Samantha Manson- but she prefers Sam. An outspoken vegetarian goth girl, Sam is a girl who has got your back- _when _she's not trying to get you to use your ghost powers to further her own activist agendas, that is. For the last time, Sam, you're not going to 'accidentally' destroy all those hummers that she doesn't like. But she's someone she's known all your life, and as far as friends go, you wouldn't trade her for the world.

But that's all you are, right? Just friends? Well, maybe everyone at Casper keeps calling the two of you 'lovebirds' for a reason.

And then there's the school idol, Paulina Sanchez, a flawless vision of grace and beauty- though perhaps not of brains. She's at the top of the A List and way our of your league- at least, as Danny Fenton, she is. Paulina, however, is madly in love with Phantom- I mean, have you seen the girl's locker? It's practically a _shrine _to you. So maybe I wouldn't be so quick to say that Paulina was 'unobtainable'- you just gotta play your cards right.

Show her a little of that Phantom in Fenton, you know?

Of course, then there's Valerie Gray- but I'm not so sure you should be pursuing that one, in all honesty. You know she's gunning for your head, right? The Red Huntress, that's her, the one with the grudge and the ectogun locked onto Phantom's head. She's nice enough to you when you're Danny Fenton, but once you go ghost, the only thing she wants to see you as is a pile of ectodust.

But if you make the right moves, as both Fenton and Phantom, perhaps she'll come around. But is the risk _really _worth the reward?

Well, whichever way you go, your path towards love is bound to be fraught with obstacles. Watch your choices, you surely wouldn't want to find yourself heading towards a BAD END, would you? But if you make all the right choices, then perhaps by the end of the school year, you'll have someone holding that hand of yours.

After all, doesn't having a girlfriend sound _really _nice?


	27. A Spot of Tea

Author's Note: Today's phanniemay theme is crossovers! So I wrote a crossover involving everyone's favorite scorned by a lover villains- Vlad Masters and Queen Beryl. There's also a mention of Northa, a villain from Fresh Precure because she is my most favorite villain in anything ever and runs circles around all the other villains in anything ever. It was pretty funny to think how much Vlad and Beryl have in common, though!

Danny Phantom and Sailor Moon, obviously, do not belong to me.

* * *

**A Spot of Tea**

Fandom: Danny Phantom, Sailor Moon

Characters: Vlad Masters, Queen Beryl

Summary: Two villains commiserate over being scorned in love over a cup of tea and Vlad Masters learns that perhaps he should stop talking to lady villains because they are scary.

* * *

"Now, would you care for any sugar with your tea?"

"None for me, thank you. I prefer my tea without any additions." The woman spoke, red eyes gazing across the table towards her current companion. Her eyes curiously had pale yellow sclera, and her skin was a rather pale tone, what could only be described as tiny horns sticking out from her shoulders. Her violet gown flowed a little as she moved, her red hair, bright against her skin, shifting with it. "So then, I take it that you have suffered from having your love taken away by one who does not deserve them as well."

Vlad Plasmius frowned at this, not at all pleased that word of his failure of a love life had been spreading around the Ghost Zone. He wasn't even sure who was to be held at fault for this- of course, there was always young Daniel, who would be more than happy to laugh at his elder's misery with whoever would listen, but he was never sure about those three ghost vultures or even Skulker- they could be awfully chatty from time to time, especially the former.

"Yes." He said after a moment, taking a sip of his tea, before setting it aside. "I hear that you had experienced something similar as well. That's why I thought I would seek you out."

Queen Beryl, once ruler of the Dark Kingdom, Plasmius had learned. Around thirteen years ago, this woman had wreaked havoc in Tokyo, sending the city into chaos as she attempted to find some sort of rumored mystical item called 'The Silver Crystal'. Plasmius, of course, believed that no such thing could exist- really, a magical item with that much power? _Horsewash_, he would have heard of something like _that _a long time ago.

To be honest, the whole story sounded absurd. There was supposedly an ancient kingdom on the Moon? And the idea of five magical fourteen year old girls defeating anything made him laugh. They were Daniel's age, at the time, and if he knew anything about fourteen year olds, it was that they only ever managed to win by luck.

"That I have." Queen Beryl said simply, taking a sip from her teacup. "Once, long ago, I was a servant in the Earth Palace." She quirked a brow at Plasmius' incredulous expression. "Yes, well, such a time has been long forgotten by the short memories of you humans. But it is true. At any rate, I fell in love with the prince of the Earth, and he surely felt the same way for me in return- until he was tricked by the wretched princess of the Moon Kingdom, and was torn away from me. What of you, then?"

"A person who I thought was a friend of mine," Plasmius began, angrily biting down on a scone. "...took advantage of a lab accident that sent me to the hospital for many long years, and stole the love of my life, Maddie, away from me." His eyes narrowed at this, recalling bitter memories. "I had the best years of my life and the woman I loved _stolen _away from me."

"And what is it that you're doing about it?" Beryl asked, draining her teacup and placing it down on it's saucer.

"I've been attempting to kill that blasted Jack Fenton for months now." Plasmius grumbled. "But his son keeps getting in my way. I'm sure you, of all people, can understand how getting thwarted by a fourteen year old feels."

"I was thwarted by _five _of them." Beryl twitched a little. "Four of whom I managed to kill. And you're struggling with just _one_. I wonder what that says about _you_."

"Yes, well." Plasmius coughed a bit, setting aside his teacup a bit awkwardly. "What did you do in response to being scorned, then?"

"I unsealed an ancient evil from the sun, raised a rebellion on Earth against the people of the moon, killed hundreds of people and put a swift end to the Silver Millennium." She said simply, inclining a brow. "After that, I was sealed away for thousands of years, at least until the Moon Princess revived. I searched for her and the Silver Crystal, kidnapped the reincarnation of my love and brainwashed him into serving me. After that I ended up luring them all out to D Point, and had my servants kill four of them."

She scoffed a little after that, rolling her eyes. "Of course, that infernal Sailor Moon managed to break Endymion free of his brainwashing and I simply couldn't have that, so I killed him as well." She recalled. "Shame, though. After that I merged with Metalia, and was well on my way to destroying the world when that brat got in the way again. And that's how I ended up here."

"You... destroyed an entire civilization just because you lost your loved one to another?" Plasmius asked, suddenly seeming a little wary. Was this woman absolutely _insane_? "Don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction?"

"No." Beryl simply shrugged her shoulders. "The people of the Moon were wicked and cruel as a whole, I don't see how I was in the wrong at all." She said, before casting eyes towards Plasmius. "And what have you done then? Flown around in a tunic and a cape? I suppose you've never even considered simply using brainwashing."

"Well, no." Plasmius admitted. "I want Maddie to come to me all on her own."

"Oh, that will _never _happen." Beryl rolled her eyes. "You're better off brainwashing her into falling all over you. But really, you mean to tell me that you have all these powers, and you're only using them to kill a single man, antagonize a fourteen year old boy and seduce his mother?" She asked, frowning a little.

"I did attempt to become the King of the Ghost Zone at one point." Plasmius frowned. Who exactly did this woman think she was, talking to him like that? Well, aside from an actual _Queen_, apparently. "However, it seemed like the former king wasn't so eager to give up his title."

"Men." Beryl rolled her eyes. "Never _actually _capable of getting things done." She said. "Perhaps you should talk to some of the other female villains floating around here. We all talk to each other quite often."

"I'm not sure what good that would do, since it seems none of you are even able to leave the Ghost Zone." Plasmius arched a brow.

"Oh, you wouldn't _believe _how many musicals I've been revived for." Beryl rolled her eyes. "And with any luck, sometime in the next three or so years, I should be revived again. But if you want a woman who knows how to get things done, then I suggest talking to Northa- Northa of Labyrinth. She's... very good at what she does."

"Northa?" Plasmius arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Well, I suppose learning from mistakes of fallen villains has never caused anyone harm." He mused. "Where exactly would I find this woman?"

"Just go to the part of the Ghost Zone most deeply entrenched in despair and sorrow. You'll find her garden there. Just be careful that you do not become a part of it." Beryl warned him.

"Oh please." Plasmius scoffed. "All of you lost your battles. What could any of you ever do to _me_?"

Queen Beryl observed him for a moment, before her lips twisted in a small grin. "That's not _really _a question you want us to answer, now is it?"


	28. The Witch Woman Sews

Author's Note: So, today's alternate theme was sewing and I already had this in my list of oneshots to do- so I did it. And I have zero regrets about this one. I rather like how it turned out!

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

The Witch Woman Sews

AU

Characters: Sam Manson, Pamela Manson, Danny Fenton

Summary: Sometimes you just can't let the ones you love go.

* * *

_One stitch, two stitch._

The needle effortlessly slide through, and Sam let out the breath she had been holding, realizing that the rough patch of her work was already over. It had been slow, stubborn going for awhile there, and there had been a point where she was somewhat worried that her needle would break.

_Three stitch, four._

She had been working on this project for a very long time, over a month now. It had been all she could focus on, all that she found herself wanting to do. It was, after all, very important to her, to her and to Danny, that she get this finished within a reasonable amount of time. She didn't want to keep him waiting, after all.

_There was a knock, knock, knocking on the door._

"Oh foo." Sam huffed, looking up from her work, grumbling a little as she realized the worried knock of her mother on the door. "Just as I'm getting close to being finished. Doesn't she realize I'm doing something important?" She rolled her eyes, knowing that the answer was 'no'. Her mother never understood anything, after all. Sighing, she set aside her work for a moment, making sure everything was secure.

_There was a worried woman at the door._

"Sam honey?" Pamela called out, a hint of concern that she was unable to hide in her voice. When the door to her daughter's room creaked open, she let out a sigh of relief. "I brought you your dinner. I got some more of your favorite salad dressing while I was out earlier too. Is there anything that I can get you, honey?" She asked, worry clear in her eyes. After all, it had been over a month now that her daughter had confined herself to her room, ever since _the accident._

_There was a thread, cut too short._

"I'm fine." Sam said shortly, taking the tray from her mother. "Thank you." She said, setting the tray aside for the moment. "I don't need anything, mother." She told her. If only she would get her nose out of her business, her work could proceed much more smoothly. She had to finish this project as quickly as she could, for both her and for Danny. She already had the last piece in hand, she didn't have _time _to waste on her mother's needless concern.

_But have no fear, with swift work, the damage could be mended._

"Well, alright." Pamela frowned again, not seeming convinced. If her daughter was fine, why was she keeping herself confined to her room? At least she was eating regular meals, she thought. She knew that her daughter had to have been deeply affected by the sudden, abrupt death of her best friend- it had happened right in front of her eyes, after all, but she never wanted to talk about it. "The police officer was here again. He still says there are no leads on that nasty grave robbing business."

_Torn from the Earth, a necessary ingredient._

"Oh." Sam said, her voice and expression seeming rather distant. "That's too bad. I hope that he gets to the bottom of it soon." She told her. "Now, if that's all, mother..." She trailed off, raising a brow, silently conveying that it better be all.

_The clock was ticking, after all._

"Almost." Pamela said, wanting to extend this conversation as much as she could. It was all she could do not to just barge into her daughter's room. The therapist she had spoken with did say that some people grieved best when in solitude, and perhaps that was all that her daughter needed. Still, the fact that it was taking so long worried her. "He said there were still no leads on the serial killer, either, so he advised us to double up on our security if we could. Your father is double checking all the locks in the house."

"I see." Sam said shortly again, the news seeming to fall on deaf ears. "Well then, goodnight, mother." She said, shutting the door on Pamela's face. She could hear her mother let out a tired sigh on the other side of the door, but she paid it no mind, locking it once more, before she secured the padlock back in place, a loud click sounding when she twisted the key into place. Ignoring her meal for now, she went right back to what she was doing, pulling aside a mechanism on her shelf, causing it to swing out into a large, hidden room.

"Sorry for the wait, Danny." She gave a soft smile once the shelf closed again behind her. Her house was old, and filled with hidden rooms and corridors, such as this one, this hidden room. No noise escaped from it, and there was a passage leading outside her house, so it was the perfect place for her to do her work. No one could disturb her here, no one could disturb _them _here.

"I know you're _so _eager to come back." Sam whispered, placing a hand on the boy's stone cold cheek, the chill seeping into her own hand. "Just a bit more, once I finish this last part, you'll be as good as new! And then you'll never have to leave me again." She said, taking a seat, and resuming her work. It had been hard, so hard, to find a good right arm to match the left that she had scavenged! She had to go through many failures before she had discovered this one, just the right size, weight, and shape.

It was perfect.

At least all of her various failures at collecting the right parts meant that there would be plenty for him to eat for the next several months. The people of Amity Park were starting to get antsy, watching every shadow, and that made it awfully hard for her to do her work! Nobody stayed outside at night anymore, and she couldn't have that. Let them think the terror was over, for she had gotten what she had needed, what she had wanted.

She hummed to herself, a strange, off chord tune as she resumed her sewing, carefully piercing the cold flesh with her needle. The arm wasn't quite the right color, she mused, but she couldn't afford to be that picky! It was a bit darker than the rest of him, but it wouldn't be much of a problem. Danny would be lovely no matter what he looked like, and she had taken great efforts to ensure that he looked almost exactly like he did when he had been alive the first time. Thank goodness the accident hadn't burned away his head or upper torso! She would have been working much longer to reconstruct him almost entirely from scratch.

Of course she had the most important part, worn in a locket around her neck. She could feel it pulsing in there, and sometimes she clasped it, embracing it's warmth. The soul pulsed and throbbed inside of the locket, enchanted so that it could not escape from her, because she would never let it, she would never let Danny leave her ever again. It had been her fault that he had died, after all, so clearly, it was her responsibility to bring him back to life again! It would be what he would want, after all, she thought, continuing to hum her discordant tune, he would want another chance to live.

"There!" Sam chirped, smiling as she paused to study her work. The thread she had used, hair plucked from her head and enchanted, glowed a bit as it sunk into the flesh, and she could feel the bones and muscles connecting inside the arm. "Perfect. And only a little bit of scarring. Why, if it weren't for the color, you would never be able to tell it wasn't his arm!" She proclaimed, pleased with herself.

"Just a few moments longer, Danny." Sam whispered, placing a hand on his fluffy hair, ruffling it, bleached white from the radiation of the portal. It was pretty, so very pretty, so she had left it as is. She had taken great pains to preserve it, as she had with everything else- thankfully, she had magic to help with that. Standing up, she added some words to her tune, but they were meaningless, strung together without rhyme nor reason, nor any sort of sense.

An altogether distorted sort of song.

The Book was heavy and cool in the hands, the leather old and worn in many places. She held it carefully as she returned, and flipped it open to the page that she knew she needed. Although the pages were yellowed with age, and the words nearly incomprehensible to most, she could read it as if they were ingrained into her very heart. Placing a hand on the page, she tore off her locket with the other, snapping the clasp open. The tiny silver blue orb floated above the locket, but was unable to escape it's pull, enchanted as it was.

In the same, discordant tune, Sam began to chant the words locked in the pages of The Book, the tome itself giving off a faint glow which only grew as the spell neared completion. Grasping the glowing orb in her hands, she held it very carefully, placing a light kiss on it, before she pressed it into the body in front of her, which all at once, became consumed with the same silver-blue light. It ran through the body, following the nerves and veins, before all at once, the light vanished, both in the boy and The Book.

"Danny?" Sam whispered, her voice faint as she placed her hands on the boy's shoulders, her gaze gentle, but _off_. "Wake up. Come back to me, please." She told him, and she could feel the boy stir in response. There was no heartbeat, no pulse, no change in the chill of his body, but she knew, she knew that the magic had worked- after all, she knew that she had the blood of a witch inside of her, and that was why she had uncovered The Book in the first place.

"Sam?" His voice croaked a little, struggling to use it again for the first time. Dull blue eyes, no hint of life opened, meeting with hers. "Sam?" He asked again, reaching out a hand, shakily and uncertain, towards her face, placing the cold hand on her cheek. The boy's eyes trailed down the length of his arm, eyes widening a moment as he took notice of the scars, remnants of the arms being stitched on, took notice of the slight discoloration.

"Sssh, no." Sam whispered, taking her hand in his, holding it against her cheek. "Everything's okay now, Danny. We're going to be okay now. Together forever." She whispered, kissing his hand softly. "You won't ever need to worry about a thing, not ever again. I'll never let anything take you away from me ever again- not even death."

She was so glad, so _very _glad, that she knew how to sew.


	29. Kiss on the Forehead

Author's Note: A rather unplanned oneshot done by request from a meme on tumblr. It's some Gray Ghost shipping.

* * *

**Kiss on the Forehead**

**Characters: **Danny Fenton, Valerie Gray

Summary: He was a reckless idiot, but he was _her_ reckless idiot.

* * *

"What am I going to do with you?" Valerie sighed as she looked down at her fiancee, who was sitting on the bed they had begun to share together, bandaging himself up from a fight. He was covered in cuts, and there were already hints of bruises starting to form, the most noticeable one on the middle of his head.

"Help me?" Danny gave her a half grin, looking up at her as he wound a bandage around one of his arms.

"More like tie you to this bed so you can't go out there and get your butt kicked again." Valerie half grumbled.

"Hey, I did not get my butt kicked. You should see the other guy." Danny huffed, looking a little upset that his fiancee didn't seem to believe in his fighting abilities.

"You can get your butt kicked and still win, you know. You seem to be rather good at that." Valerie told him, crossing the room to stand in front of him. "But well," she leaned down, planting a light kiss on the blooming bruise on his forehead. "Even that part of you, I wouldn't trade for all the world."

"Now give me those bandages, you suck at knots." She demanded.


	30. Sunset

Author's Note: Whoops, another Gray Ghost drabble. I like them best when they're casually competitive with each other, I think. They are both pretty stubborn after all! Anyways, I just wrote this one to get it out for the most part.

* * *

**Sunset**

Characters: Danny Fenton, Valerie Gray

Summary: It was little moments like these that she liked the best.

* * *

She sat with her hand entwined in his, the boy's head leaning lightly on her shoulder. The calendar marked it as the first day of summer, but the weather was still strangely cool, making it a very peaceful evening as the pair of them sat outside, perched on the roof of the shabby apartment building that she lived in with her father still. In a month, it wouldn't matter though, she would be off to college and living on her own- but it also meant in a month they would be separated from each other for four long years.

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" Danny asked, glancing up at Valerie.

"I can't help it." She said mildly, staring off into the distance. "I just worry. It took us awhile to really find each other, what if we drift apart while we're both at college? I don't want that to happen."

"It won't." He said, pushing himself up, grinning at his girlfriend of several months. "I know what they say about long distance relationships, but I think it will work out."

"You sound so confident." Valerie noted, unable to help but grin. "That's not like you." She teased him, making it her turn now to rest her head on his shoulder. "Can't say that it's not attractive, though."

"Oh hush." Danny huffed a little, not pleased that his girlfriend was teasing him. "I'm serious though Val. It'll all work out. Besides, I can visit you during the weekend, it's not like you're going to college out of state or anything. It's not like we won't be able to see each other at all. I think you're just being over dramatic."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who makes lists of terrible puns." Valerie said, quirking a brow. "If you devoted half of the effort you gave to that to your schoolwork, you would probably be graduating at the top of the class."

"What are you, Mr. Lancer?" Danny crinkled his nose. "Good quips are very important for a superhero, I'll have you know. You should work on your own sometime, I mean, who _knows _what you'll be running into when you're off in a whole new city."

"I don't need quips." Valerie said. "That's what ectoguns are for."

"Always the shoot first, ask questions never sort of girl, aren't you?" Danny asked, snorting a little. "Well, that's the person I fell in love with, even while she was aiming for my head."

"Shut up, I didn't know." Valerie frowned, sitting up and flicking her boyfriend in the forehead. "You could have just come clean to me. I only ended up punching you a little bit."

"Valerie, you broke _three of my ribs_ when you found out, I don't think that exactly qualifies as a little bit." Danny pointed out. "And then you wouldn't even talk to me for the rest of the year. What made you stop being so mad anyways? I never did ask."

"I realized it was stupid." Valerie shrugged her shoulders, gazing out towards the skyline, the sun slowly dipping down beyond the horizon, coloring the sky with faint pink hues. "It was stupid to be mad at you. Of course you would have kept it a secret from me. I wasn't one of your friends, and we didn't even start talking until after I started hunting ghosts, Phantom especially. You had no reason to tell me."

"I was thinking of doing it earlier, but you did that whole 'let's break up for your own protection' thing." Danny said. "It's pretty funny in retrospect, to think that you were mostly trying to protect me from myself, but flattering all the same that you cared that much.

"Yeah well, I thought it was a good idea at the time." Valerie laughed. "Just shut up and enjoy the sunset, Danny. You're ruining the mood."

"Sorry." He gave her a small, sheepish grin. "Didn't mean to." He told her, turning his eyes back towards the slowly setting sun, hints of the night sky slowly starting to creep into view, tossing some faint purple hues into the mix.

"I'm going to miss this, though." Valerie noted, tightening her grip a little on Danny's hand.

"Miss what, arguing about our differences as superheroes?" Danny asked.

"I'm not exactly a superhero." Valerie snorted. "But no. I'm just going to miss this. Our little breaks during patrol. Watching the sun set together." She said, extending her hand outwards, as if hoping to catch the vanishing sun in her hand, to keep it hanging half down past the horizon forever, so that the moment would never end, and time would never have to go forward.

"Me too." Danny said softly. "I think I like times like these the best. Sometimes there just aren't enough of them around here."

"Sure you can handle it while I'm gone, Fenton?" Valerie asked, looking over at him, a coy smile on her lips. "I still hold that I'm the better of us."

"Oh, that sounds like a challenge to me." Danny said, raising his brows. "Are you sure about that Val? I'll have you know I have far more experience as a ghost hunter than you do."

"Yeah, by a month or two." Valerie snorted, rolling her eyes. "Hardly counts. I think you're just afraid of accepting my challenge."

"Me? Afraid?" Danny laughed, shaking his head. "You're on. Should we make it a bet?"

"Yeah." Valerie grinned, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Loser has to do whatever the winner says tonight."

Danny flushed a little at that, suddenly catching what Valerie was thinking about. "Well then, I'll just have to make sure that I don't lose. See how you like being chained up with handcuffs for once."

"That will never happen." Valerie said, getting to her feet, as the last rays of the sun ducked beneath the horizon. "Winner is whoever catches a ghost first." She told him, grinning as she called upon her suit, her visor sliding down in front of her face, just as rings of light enveloped Danny, turning him into Phantom.

"Deal." Phantom grinned. "See you at the finish line, Red Huntress."

"Yes, you will." She nodded her head, her jet sled forming underneath her feet, causing her to rise up in the air. "Because I'll be there, waiting for you."


	31. A Moment of Destiny

Author's Note: This was suggested to me by a friend of mine, so I wrote this little drabble for Tucker day of Phanniemay. Because trio babies are the actual best babies.

* * *

A Moment of Destiny

Characters: Tucker Foley, Maurice Foley

Summary: It was a destined meeting.

* * *

The first time he saw it, he was ten years old, and it was sitting inside the shop window of the local hat store. It shone, a bright red color, almost calling out to him, beckoning the young boy to come inside and try it on. But they weren't here for hats, his father said, they were here to buy some new shoes for school. School was starting back up, and his father wanted to have Tucker make a good impression on all of his new teachers.

Tucker fussed and whined and said that he would make an even better impression on them with that handsome red beret in the window. His father, however, would have none of it, and instead tugged the small child towards the shoe store, though the little boy dragged his feet the entire way there and decided he would be unhappy with every pair of shoes that he saw. If he couldn't have his hat, then his father couldn't get what he wanted either!

Eventually, Maurice Foley groaned, all but throwing up his hands in frustration. "What is it going to take for you to pick out a pair of shoes, Tucker? We've looked at almost every single pair in the store, and you haven't been happy with _any _of them. I don't know why you're being so difficult."

"I want the hat!" Tucker huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and glowered up at his dad as best as he could. Of course, being only ten, this wasn't the least bit intimidating. "I want the hat, daddy, or I'm not gonna even think about shoes! Not one bit!"

"You don't _need _a hat, but you _do _need shoes." Maurice sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. He hadn't acted like this when he was a kid, had he? He was beginning to feel some sympathy for his own parents, then, if that was the case. "The sneakers you wore last year are about to fall apart."

"_I. **Want**. The. Hat_." Tucker said stubbornly, giving his father a look that said that he had already made up his mind to be the worst child possible if he didn't get what he wanted.

"Why?" Maurice asked. "Why do you want the hat so much?"

"Because it's _awesome_!" Tucker told him, throwing up his arms, clearly at wit's end that his father couldn't understand how wonderful the hat was. "It's _red_!"

Maurice couldn't help but roll his eyes a little, heaving a deep sigh and shaking his head. "Alright, alright, we'll buy you the hat, if that's what it takes for you to be a more agreeable child. You win."

Tucker grinned at that, hopping to his feet and picking up one of the shoe boxes, thrusting it towards his father. "These then! Now let's hurry up and go get the hat before somebody else takes it, daddy!"

"I doubt anyone else will want it." Maurice observed dryly, but nevertheless let his son hurry him along to pay for the new shoes, having to pause and remind Tucker to collect his old sneakers. As his son scampered back to where they had been trying shoes on, Maurice paid for the shoes, taking the bag that had been offered to him.

When they got to the hat store, Tucker all but tripped over himself to grab the beret from the hat stand, thrusting it towards his father's face. The man frowned, taking it from his son, making a quick check of the price- and then cringed a little. How on Earth could a simple beret cost so much? He was beginning to have second thoughts, to be honest- but the excited, thrilled look on his son's face reminded him that he _had _promised.

"Your mother is going to have my hide later." He said, shaking his head again, and heading up to the cash register.

But somehow, the elated look his son wore when he put on the hat was enough to make up for his wife's possible wrath over wasted money. It almost looked as if his son didn't plan on letting that hat go for the rest of his life.


	32. The Upper Hand

Author's Note: Here have another dumb thing I wrote because apparently without meaning to I have ended up writing a ton of these sorts of fics now? I do not even understand how this happened other than the fact that I wrote one and then people encouraged me to write more. Maybe I should stop talking to people on Skype and Tumblr, ahahaha, they encourage me to do such things as this. At any rate, the return of the ghost unicorn!

Also for those of you who aren't following me on tumblr, I have two exclusive Danny Phantom AUs that are ongoing there. My tumblr username is **Bekuki**, and they can be found under the tags 'Fish Out of Water' (a mer AU) and 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' (a student teacher Danny/high school senior Sam AU).

* * *

The Upper Hand

Characters: Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters

Summary: Well, as it turned out- there seemed to be one matter that Danny had more experience in.

* * *

"This is no laughing matter, Daniel."

"Oh, but I think it is, Vlad." The seventeen year old boy could barely hold back his laughter, not when his eyes fell on the grumpy forty something year old man in front of him, and furthermore, what was placidly floating behind him, not a care in the world. It's green mane flickered in the sunlight air, and it seemed at peace to be following Vlad Masters around- as it had been for most of the day, apparently. It had been the talk of the town in fact, that Vlad Masters was having trouble with a ghost.

A unicorn ghost, that is.

It was _probably _the same one that had put Danny through so much hell a few months earlier, but for the moment, he put the long, grueling chase of it out of his mind, and just enjoyed what it stalking Vlad must have meant. And that, of course, was why he couldn't manage to wipe the smirk off of his face, nor could he keep himself from laughing.

"Really now, child, this thing has been following me around all day. It's very hard to conduct business with a ghost hanging over your shoulder, and no matter what I do, it won't leave." Vlad grumbled again, eyes narrowing. "I've tried firing ectoblasts at it, everything I can think of, and it always comes right back like it just doesn't learn."

"And that's what brings you to Fenton Works, huh?" Danny asked, arching an eyebrow. "Well Vlad, sorry to say that my folks are out for the day- something about a ghost in the city next to us. So I'm afraid you're out of luck, Vlad." He grinned, unable to keep his amusement off of his face.

"Well surely to God you can help me Daniel." Vlad rolled his eyes. "All we need to do is shove the damn thing back into your idiot father's ghost portal and we'll be done with it."

"Okay, first of all, I don't see why I should help you with anything, Vlad." Danny told him, holding up a finger. "And second," he said, holding up another finger, before pointing at the ghost unicorn, placidly munching on the bushes by their house. "I can't even touch that thing. Believe me, I've tried. The damn thing gave me and Sam an hour and a half chase around town before we finally managed to catch it."

"Really?" Vlad asked, sounding rather skeptical as he glanced back at it, before turning back towards Danny. "It seems rather docile to me. Why on earth would it have given you so much trouble? Are you certain it's the same one? Because I'm having trouble keeping this thing _away _from me." He said, before pursing his lips slightly, taking notice of something he had missed earlier, now that Danny was quite finished laughing in his face.

"What's with the..." Vlad asked, hand lifting up to his own neck as if to indicate what he meant. "...around your neck, Daniel? Skulker begin using some kind of spectral rope or something?" He asked him, making a dim note that the same traces of rope burn were around the boy's wrists as well.

"Oh Vlad." Danny said, giving his nemesis a huge, shiteating grin. "It's not something you would ever understand. Not if you've got _Ol Prancer_ following you around with such devotion."

"Oh please." Vlad crinkled his nose, scoffing at the notion that there was anything a teenage boy could have more experience than him with. "And it's not like I asked for this blasted unicorn to stalk me halfway across the city, it just up and decided to do so on it's own."

"Well you know what they say about unicorns, Vlad." The lanky half ghost said, grinning all the wider. "They're attracted to _virgins_."

Vlad blinked for a moment, as if it took a few seconds before Danny's words entirely seeped in. When they did, his eyes narrowed, and his lips twisted in a tight frown. "Very funny, Daniel. Perhaps in that case it would rather enjoy your company over mine." He said simply.

Danny's grin didn't leave his face for even one moment, his eyes all but twinkling with mirth. "Oh I don't think you get it Vlad." Danny said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder, patting him on it like he would a child. "You see, that's a matter that I have _far _more experience than you in."

"What on earth do you...?" Vlad began, before he turned sheet white, the boys words finally sinking in. "You... you've had _intercourse_?"

"Had _sex_, you mean?" Danny asked, shrugging his shoulders, as if it were no big deal. Oh, sure some people he might turn red and flush around- but around Vlad? Oh no, he was more than happy to gloat that he had accomplished something that Vlad never could. "Yeah, pretty often, actually. Sam's always looking around the Internet and in these weird books she finds. She's really interested in the kind of kinky stuff."

Vlad sputtered, his face turning a bright crimson, quite the undignified look for the man. "You-" Vlad stammered, his eyes again drifting towards the rope burn around the boy's neck and ankles, blanching a little. "That's not... you're _seventeen! _Children your age shouldn't be engaging in such affairs! I am going to inform your mother, Daniel, and you'll see what _she _has to say about this matter."

"Good luck with that, dude." Danny observed, still grinning, unable to help himself. He didn't even bother telling Vlad that he was pretty sure his mother already knew. After all, she had pulled him aside once not long after he and Sam had started to have sex, and had whispered to him in hushed tones if 'knew what he was doing' and when, he had assured her in stammering words that he more or less did, she had nodded, patted him on the shoulder, and told him that he could always ask her for money if he 'needed something essential'.

"Oh, and Vlad?" Danny asked, leaning against the door frame, tucking his hands in his pockets as the very disgruntled man began to stalk away, no doubt to track down his mother. "Good luck with your little unicorn friend too. Who knows, maybe the knowledge that you're a forty year old virgin will gain you some sympathy points with the ladies."

"Oh, we'll see how long that smug look on your face lasts, Daniel." Vlad narrowed his eyes. "And I don't need any sympathy points, thank you very much."

"Sure you don't Vlad~." Danny said, his voice nearly a sing-song tone. He had to admit, it was nice, for once, to have the upper hand on Vlad. Even if it wasn't an area that he would have expected to have back when he was fourteen.


	33. It's Only the First Meeting For Her

Author's Note: So awhile back, me and my friends, Becca and Chrissy got to talking about Masters of All Time and what would happen if Danny ended up getting stuck there because there wasn't a portal in Maddie's hidden lab. Also somehow we decided that MOAT!Vlad was obsessed with golf and spent a lot of his free time concocting evil golf plots and that he dragged Danny around with him as his caddy, who proceeded to then play all sorts of pranks on Vlad like the little shit he is because he now has ghost powers, and Vlad doesn't. Sweet, sweet payback.

And eventually I think I will do a fic on that idea, but instead of that, here's another oneshot from this universe!

* * *

**It's Only The First Meeting for Her**

AU

Characters: Sam Manson, Danny Fenton

Summary: Just because he stopped existing in this timeline, didn't mean that anyone else had.

* * *

She grumbled as she made her way through the crowd, winding her way through the seemingly endless hoard of rich people. She could almost smell the money rolling off of them- or perhaps that was simply the men's poor choice in aftershave. Finally making her way to the buffet table, which was more or less free of people, Sam could breathe at least, for once feeling like the walls weren't closing in on her.

There were always _far _too many people at these parties that Vlad Masters threw, and none of them ever seemed to know how to not linger in a person's path. When she tried to brush by, no matter how polite she was being, they simply turned their nose up at her, wondering why they should ever even move- so she had stopped being polite, and had started to be more forceful about it, all but pushing them aside. The flabbergasted looks on their faces was so worth it, even if it did cause her parents to be wroth with her later.

At least she had some air now, she thought, frowning as she looked at the buffet table. Piled wastefully high with food, she noted, and not much of it even looked like things she could eat. She would be snacking later that night to be sure, she thought, although she did manage to find some dates that she could have, piling them high on one of the little plates that were provided. Thoughtfully, she began munching on one, turning her attention back towards the dance floor.

It was the usual crowd that she had become familiar with at these parties. For the large part, they were familiar faces, although she noted that the staff from he last time had been replaced. But then again, Vlad Masters was never very happy with the people who worked for him, it seemed, the staff for these social parties seemed to change every single time he threw one. She could tell them apart from the regular party guests right away, from the experienced way they bobbed and weaved through the crowd, carrying plates with small bits of food on them or tiny glasses of wine.

Then she found a face that she didn't know.

He looked out of place here, that she could tell right away. Shaggy black hair hung over one eye, and baby blue eyes looked around through the crowd, as if he were searching for someone. He was scrawny and rather pale, but there was something in his body language that told her that perhaps there was more to him than he let on. His suit lacked it's jacket, and his collar wasn't done all the way up, as if he would have trouble breathing with it buttoned up properly.

Strangely, she felt as if she should know this kid, although she was sure that she had never seen him before in her life.

She did, however, have an idea as to who he might be.

It had been the talk of the social circuit for the past month or so, that Vlad and his wife, Maddie, had picked up a stray off the streets. A fourteen, maybe fifteen year old boy with amnesia, was what they said, and Sam had always found the story a little bit strange. There were no missing persons reports out for the boy, no one was looking for him. It was just as if he had simply appeared out of nowhere, and wasn't even supposed to be here. Like he was someone who wasn't meant to exist in this world, there was utterly no record of him.

She had never caught his name but well, now was as good a time to find out as any, she thought, setting aside her plate, swallowing the date she was chewing. Taking in and letting out a deep breath, she once again dove back into the fray, making her way through the crowd towards the boy. He was the only other person her age here anyways, so she might as well try and get along with him. After all, he looked just as out of place here as she did.

"Hey." Sam spoke up, quickly catching his attention- a bit too quickly, she thought, for the moment he heard her voice, the boy turned her way, his blue eyes going wide and his mouth gaping open a little bit. His lips worked silently for a moment, and she could have sworn that he had said her name- but she dismissed this- he'd no reason to know what that was. "I couldn't help but notice that you look like you'd rather not be here either. I'm Sam, Sam Manson. What's yours?"

"Danny." He said, slowly blinking and regaining his voice. Although he knew that it should be obvious, somehow the thought that his friends continued to exist in this strange, alternate timeline, even when he technically should not, had never even occurred to him. And yet, that was unmistakably Sam standing in front of him, although not quite the Goth girl that he remembered. Her hair was longer, and she wasn't quite wearing the dark makeup that he was accustomed to- although perhaps that had more to do with their current setting, rather than anything else. "It's Danny."

"You're the kid that Vlad picked up, aren't you?" Sam asked, getting straight to the point. "Going from living on the streets to living with a billionaire must be quite the change, huh?"

"Yeah." Danny said, giving this other Sam a sheepish grin, quietly reminding himself that this wasn't his Sam, wasn't the one that he knew. The one that he knew was currently in an alternate timeline, one that he could not return to, suffering from ecto-acne. That said, seeing her healthy made him happy, even if she wasn't his Sam. "I mean, yeah, I am, and yeah, it is." He said, laughing a little, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly feeling nervous. He never felt this nervous talking to his Sam, but this one was a stranger to him, who had lived a life that he knew nothing about.

And he found himself wanting to know about it, in spite of himself.

He wouldn't be here long, he reminded himself- his thought that his mother would still have a working ghost portal was wrong. Although there was a hidden lab deep underneath the mansion, there was no ghost portal. His only hope now lay in a naturally occurring one, which after consulting the Dairy King's ghost, he had found out that he would be able to sense when one opened up nearby.

Thus, until that happened, he had no choice but to stay here, in Vlad's mansion of all places, and wait. It was a bit of irony, really, that Vlad in this alternate timeline had gotten everything that he wanted in the original timeline. And yet he still didn't seem happy with it- there were cracks in his relationship with his mother, Danny could tell that much, could tell by the way that his mother insisted on spoiling him, by the way that Vlad spoke to her, by the way that Maddie rolled her eyes whenever her husband left.

Somehow, it was satisfying to watch. There was also the little matter of this Vlad not having any ghost powers, which meant that Danny had more or less free reign at getting sweet, sweet payback, playing any number of admittedly rather childish pranks on the man.

"So is your name really Danny, or was that just something they gave you?" Sam asked. "Considering I hear you've got the whole amnesia thing going on. What's that like, anyways? Scary?"

"Uh, sort of. It's my own name though, I think." Danny told her, lying through his teeth. When they had started to ask questions about himself, he panicked and lied, telling them that he didn't remember anything other than his first name. After all, he couldn't exactly tell him that he was Danny Fenton, Jack and Maddie's son from an alternate timeline. "As for my memory, I guess it's pretty scary?" He frowned. "But I try not to think about it."

Oh, this boy was lying his pants off, Sam could tell, lifting one brow, the hint of a smile on her face. Well, if it had scored a runaway kid a warm bed, she wasn't about to blow his cover. Especially not when he seemed to be kind of nice. "So this is all your house now, right? What do you say to blowing this party and taking me on a tour?"

"Okay, but this place is pretty big, I can't say for sure if I'll get lost or not." Danny gave her a small grin. "I haven't been here very long, after all."

"Hey, getting lost is an adventure in and of itself." Sam shrugged her shoulders, looping her arm around his. For some reason she didn't really understand, being with this kid felt almost _natural _to her. She felt safe with him, secure in the knowledge that he would never do anything to hurt her. Tucker would probably laugh at her if she told him that, though.

"Well, you know, they say that this place is haunted by the ghost of the Dairy King." Danny told her, grinning wider. "Want to go find out of it that's true?"

"Ghosts?" Sam quirked a grin, stifling a laugh. "I'll believe that when I see it." She said.

"Then you should probably get ready to believe." Danny advised her, before escorting her through the door. She might not be the Sam that he knew, but somehow seeing a friendly, familiar face was something that he didn't even know that he needed.

He would enjoy tonight, he thought.


	34. Action Figures

Author's Note: And now, a cute little Jack drabble, because if you don't like Jack, well, you're probably wrong.

* * *

**Action Figures**

Characters: Jack Fenton, Jazz Fenton

Summary: Well, he had said that he would.

* * *

Jack Fenton sat hard at work in the basement lab of Fenton Works, his eyes narrowed in deep concentration. He was very clearly working on a project that required focus and a great attention to detail, and not the sort of thing that one could take lightly. It was rare for Jack Fenton to get serious, but on that day, he was- very, very serious indeed.

Pausing to wipe the sweat off his brow, Jack looked over his work, seemingly pleased with himself. Oh how he couldn't wait to show his children this, namely Jazz! He had promised her that he would make one of these for her, after all, and although she hadn't seemed pleased then, he was sure that she was just being modest. After all, it wasn't every day that you had your very own action figure made of you!

And why stop there, Jack had thought? His whole family deserved in on this action! Before he knew it, Jack had made little action figures of the entire Fenton family. Jazz's came equipped with a tiny book, and you could even flip the pages of it! Knowledge was power, after all, and his daughter was so smart, and Jack couldn't be more proud of her! Then there was Maddie's, and hers came equipped with her dual laser sword, and you could swing her arm and put her in several action poses!

He had some trouble deciding what to do with Danny's, but in the end he had given him a little ectogun that you could load a shot into and fire it off. After all, his son wasn't as strong as he was, so he couldn't exactly give him punching action! But anyone could use an ectogun, Jack thought, so that was what his son got.

And then well... maybe it had gotten just a little bit _excessive_.

It had started off with Jack thinking that Danny might be a bit lonely without his gloomy goth chick girlfriend, so a Sam action figure had been made. She was very poseable, so that she could have real goth ridiculing action! And then he thought it was so wrong that the trio of friends was left incomplete, so he had made a figure of Tucker as well, one that came with a little backpack full of little light up electronics.

Oh, but he was leaving out Amity Park's other ghost hunter, he thought, hurrying to make a figure of the Red Huntress as well. She had her little jet sled and her big bazooka and everything, Jack was proud of her! But thinking of other ghost hunters made Jack think of that other girl that Danny had been seen hanging around- Valerie, wasn't it? And so, Jack had made a little figure of her. He didn't know much about her, but she seemed sporty, so he gave the girl some real karate chopping action! That seemed fitting, he thought.

But he couldn't leave out Vlad! And thus with careful skill, Jack had constructed a Vlad action figure, that came with it's very own miniature cheese head. Thinking of Vlad made Jack remember the Wisconsin Ghost, so he had decided to make a figure of him as well- after all, they needed bad guys to fight! He made the ghost's cape out of real fabric, carefully sewing it together and placing it on the figure's tiny shoulders.

Oh if he had the Wisconsin Ghost, then he needed Phantom as well! Jack had debated for awhile what to give the ghost kid, but he had settled for a little ectoblast that you could attach and fire from his hand. When he set it next to his little Danny action figure, Jack had to pause and frown a little. Wow, he had constructed the two of them with a very close resemblance, he hadn't even noticed that when he was making it! Then again, to Jack, all teenagers looked alike, so it didn't really mean much of anything to him.

By the time his daughter came downstairs, coming home from her weekend trip to look at colleges, she found that her father had made half of Amity Park in action figure form. She could only stand there open mouthed for a few moments, before she finally shut it, rubbing her forehead. "Dad, is there any chance this is what you spent the entire weekend doing?" She asked him, a note of mild annoyance on her voice.

Jack Fenton paused, blinking slowly at his daughter, before he turned back to the small army of action figures he had made. He was currently putting the finishing touches on Principal Ishiyama, who had real scolding action! Slowly, he turned back to his daughter, frowning a little bit, not quite sure what it was that he had done wrong this time.

"What, too much?"


	35. It's a Special Date, You Just Don't Know

Author's Note: Another oneshot to go along with 'It's Only the First Meeting For Her'. I've dubbed this AU 'Even a Broken Clock' or for shorthand, 'golf au'. Some Maddie/Danny bonding, because even in a world where she never gave birth to him, I have very little doubt that she would still feel connected to him. Also, I keep forgetting to say this, but this collection now has over one hundred reviews! So thanks to each and every one of you!

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

**It's a Special Date, You Just Don't Know That**

Even a Broken Clock

Characters: Danny Fenton, Maddie Masters

Summary: It was a nice gesture, though she didn't know the reason behind it.

* * *

She hummed a cheerful tune to herself as she washed the grime off the dishes from breakfast that morning. There were now more dishes than usual, but Maddie didn't mind, she liked having an extra presence around the house for a change. Living in a huge mansion could get awfully lonely if there were only ever two people around- having a third with them really shook things up a bit. Ever since they had taken in the wayward, amnesiac fourteen year old boy, she had felt as if her life had become more complete.

She had always wanted children, after all, but Vlad had always said that he wasn't interested in being a father. And since it was a family decision, she had no choice but to go along with it. How she had convinced Vlad to let Danny stay here was nothing short of a mystery to her. Perhaps he thought that the good publicity that taking in a homeless teenage boy would give him outweighed the fact that there would be a teenager in his home.

He hadn't offered to keep Danny here for free however, she knew that he dragged the boy off with him every time he went down to the country club, in order to play golf. He needed a caddy, and Vlad had something of a reputation as not being a very pleasant boss to work with. Maddie had fussed at him, and had told him to try and be nice to Danny, after all, they were going to be living with him for awhile until they could solve the mystery of who he was and where he came from.

He was a nice child, she thought, although a bit strange. His body temperature was worrying, much too low for her tastes, but he had assured her this was normal for him and she didn't feel the need to press it. There was a faint glow to his eyes in the dark, but when she had asked him about that, he looked just as surprised as she was- apparently, he had never noticed. In spite of those two things, however, for all the world, Danny seemed like a sweet child, and she hoped that they could find his mother soon, for she must be worried sick that her son was missing.

And if she wasn't, _well then_, Maddie would have some words with her to be sure. For some reason, she couldn't help but feel awfully protective of the scrawny fourteen year old boy.

"Maddie?" Speaking of the boy, he poked his head into the kitchen, glancing around. His hands were behind his back, and it seemed that he was holding something in them. She frowned, grabbing a dish towel and used it to dry her hands, before setting it aside and going to see what was going on. "Do you have a moment? Is this a bad time?" He asked, glancing around the kitchen.

"No, it's fine, Danny." Maddie smiled at him. "What is it?" She asked, trying to peer behind him and see what he was hiding. He moved it out of sight however, giving her a small smile.

"Oh, uh, well _actually _I have something to give you." Danny said, looking up at her. It was strange to see his mother outside of a jumpsuit- and in pink, which was totally not her color, by the way- but he had gradually gotten more or less used to it over the past several weeks he had found himself stuck here. He had to admit, seeing Vlad wearing a polo shirt and a sweater tied over his shoulders was far stranger than his mother in pink. Somewhere, across timelines, he could swear that he could feel Sam shudder.

"Oh?" Maddie blinked, a surprised smile on her face. "You didn't have to, though! But that's so sweet of you Danny." She said, smiling at him, placing a hand over her heart, touched by this gesture. She had begun to give him a small allowance recently, so that he could go out and buy a few necessities for himself that she hadn't already bought for him- new clothes, for one thing, although he seemed _awfully _attached to the white and red T-shirt of his. But to think that he would spend some of it on her!

"No, I did." Danny told her, a small, but somewhat sad smile on his face. After all, today was May 9th, and if it weren't for him screwing up the timeline, his mother would be celebrating her wedding anniversary with Jack right now. Instead she was here, married to Vlad Masters, and not at all happy. Maddie Masters- he shuddered internally a little bit at the last name. He had only been calling his mother by her first name, unable to bring himself to say 'Mrs. Masters'. "Trust me, I needed to give you this."

_Because the person who would give it to you otherwise can't now_, he thought.

"Well, let's see it then." Maddie told him, looking at the boy expectantly.

Danny pulled the package out from behind his back, handing it over to Maddie. She took the gift wrapped present in her hand, noticing the rather shoddy wrapping job- someone was very skilled with his hands, she thought. "Oh, I wonder what it could be!" She said, sounding excited. It had been awhile since she had been so excited for a present! Vlad normally gave her the same old thing every birthday and Christmas, so the thought that she might be getting something from someone else was honestly thrilling for her.

Of course, there was the matter of the presents that came for her every year on her birthday, from an unknown sender. She kept those a secret from Vlad, just like she kept her ghost hunting a secret from him. Instead, he would complement her on her needlepoint work upon seeing them, assuming that she did them in her spare time.

She had a suspicion as to who was sending them, but she kept _that _to herself too.

Tearing away the wrapping paper, Maddie's breath caught in her throat a little as she saw what the gift was, opening her mouth. "Danny this is... where did you even _get _this?" She asked him, opening up the leather bound book, flipping through it as if she couldn't even believe her eyes. "How did you even _know?"_ She whispered, glancing around the room, suddenly wondering where her husband was- because if he saw this, she had no doubt that he would be _furious_.

Because sitting in her hands was an almanac to the Ghost Zone, a rare item that Maddie had only heard of in her time studying ghosts, but had never actually seen. She had thought it was just a rumor, but here it was, sitting in her hands. She had expected something from Danny, but she hadn't expected this- how had he even known about her secret life, where had he even found this in the first place?

"You live on the streets for awhile, and you meet some interesting people." Danny lied. Rather, he had just returned to the place where Sam had found this item in his own timeline and had ah- _borrowed _it with no intention of bringing it back. "As for the knowing part well, I saw you creeping out of the house in that jumpsuit one night and you know how Vlad is about ghosts... so I just sort of put two and two together." He told her, rubbing the back of his neck. "If you don't like it, I can always get you something else..." He trailed off.

"No, no, this is _perfect_." Maddie said, closing the book and looking at the boy in slight awe. "But you mustn't tell Vlad of this. He does have his... issues with ghosts." She told him. "It's a very complicated subject matter, Danny, although perhaps someday I'll discuss it with you, when he's not around. He doesn't like me talking about it very much." She frowned a bit.

"Trust me, I won't breathe a _word _to him." Danny swore, shaking his head furiously. "Your secret is safe with me, Maddie." He smiled up at her. "I mean, the fact that you hunt ghosts is nothing short of being really cool." He told her, grinning from ear to ear. "If I have a mother," he had to bite down on his cheek to keep himself from wincing at his lie, of course he had a mother, he was talking to her right now, "...I hope she would be half as cool as you are."

"Oh, honey!" Maddie declared, throwing her arms around the boy. "That's so sweet of you to say. If I had a son, I would hope that he would be as nice as you are." She told him, lightly stroking his hair. "Thank you. Thank you very much for this. But can you do my a small favor?" She asked, handing the book back to him.

"Yeah, sure, anything!" Danny grinned at her, taking it back.

"Go hide this in my private library. There's a trap door underneath one of the writing desks there were I store the secret books. The one Vlad doesn't know about." She whispered.

"Is it the one with the really gaudy rug under it?" Danny asked.

"That's the one!" Maddie smiled, ruffling his hair, unable to resist the maternal impulses she felt towards this child. She always _had _wanted to be a mother, after all. Having Danny here was like fulfilling a dream that she never thought she would be able to. "Vlad bought it, which explains the taste."

"Hiding something you want to keep a secret from him underneath the rug he bought you. Nice." Danny commented. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it's hidden. And uh, Maddie?" He paused, turning back towards her.

"Yes, Danny?" She asked.

"Thanks for taking me." He told her. "That means more to me than you could ever know."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Maddie told him, watching him hurry out of the kitchen, the book pressed to his chest. It was only after he was long out of sight that she grabbed her dish rag, and resumed washing her dish, the tune she was humming earlier now all the more cheerful.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she wondered why getting a present on May 9th felt so _right_.


	36. Picture Day

Author's Note: A cute little childhood memories drabble for 'Picture Day' day of Phanniemay. Because the trio make the world's cutest children, and you cannot tell me otherwise.

* * *

**Picture Day**

Characters: Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Maddie Fenton

Summary: That's what friends are for, right?

* * *

"Tucker Foley, I swear, if you laugh at me one more time, then I'm going to see to it that you suffer the same fate as Ricky Marsh." Sam grumbled, crossing her arms grumpily in front of her chest. Her words, at the very least, seemed to work, and very quickly, her old friend shut up, his face turning rather pale. The eight year old boy tugged nervously on his collar, glancing over at their mutual friend, Danny.

"I-I wasn't laughing at you or anything Sam, was I Danny?" Tucker quickly asked his friend, pleading for him to agree to this so that he could be spared being knocked off the monkey bars later at recess. He didn't want to have to take a trip to the school nurse!

"I think he was just so surprised, laughter just escaped him." The eight year old Danny responded, giving Sam a small smile. "After all, we don't exactly see you in pink all that often."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my idea." Sam groaned, rolling her eyes, tugging at the hem of the pink skirt her mother had forced her to wear that morning, a long number with a bundle of white frills towards the bottom. It was enough to make her want to gag- she had told her mother time and time again that she didn't like pink or frills, and yet here she was, on school picture day, dressed up in one of these numbers again. At least this time it wasn't a dress, which was the smallest mercy she could think of.

"It looks good on you, Sam." Tucker grinned, though he quickly backpedaled on this when Sam sent him a certifiable death glare. "I mean, for something that's totally not your style, that is."

"I _hate _picture day." Sam grumbled again, kicking the wall in front of her. Their third grade class was all lined up against the wall, waiting for their class to be called so they could take their individual shots. "Mom wouldn't let me leave the house if I wasn't wearing this, and she took out the change of clothes I put in my backpack too!" She huffed, glaring at the wall as if it had kicked her dog.

"I don't know why she's so fixed on getting you into pink." Danny observed, frowning a little. "But don't worry Sam! I've got an idea!" He told her, grinning eagerly, before turning to Tucker. "Tucker, take off your shirt and give it to Sam."

"What!?" Tucker blanched, suddenly clinging to his own shirt, a rather nice dress shirt that his mother had given him that morning. "No way man, this is mine!"

"If you don't hand it over, I'll break your fingers." Sam glowered at him, sending her death glare his way.

"On second thought, what are friends for, right?" Tucker laughed nervously, quickly taking off his shirt and passing it to Sam. She tugged it on, neatly buttoning it up so that it covered the pink shirt her mother had given her that morning.

"Okay, that takes care of the solo photos, but what about the class photos?" Sam asked him, frowning a little as she studied the shirt. It was just a bit too big for her, the sleeves just reaching to her knuckles. "I don't want to be memorialized wearing a _pink skirt_."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got a plan for that too!" Danny assured her, beaming widely, before eying Tucker again, who started shaking his head frantically.

"Oh no, _no!_ No way man! I _will not!_"

* * *

"Oh look Jack, Danny's photos came in!" Maddie happily told her husband as she leafed through that evening's mail. "Oh I can't wait to see how he looks. He was so cute in his little dress shirt and tie~. I just hope that he didn't sneeze again." She said, cracking open the envelope.

She paused, however, when she looked at the first photograph that was in the bunch, a large print of his third grade class photo, blinking in mild confusion.

"Hm. I wonder why Tucker's in a skirt."


	37. Ectoplasm

Author's Note: A drabble for the phanneimay day themed Ectoplasm. Because let's face it, Danny bleeding ectoplasm as Phantom is both really cool and some really freaky shit, yo. Also because I need to do more sibling stuff because sibling stuff is the actual greatest? I love sibling stories, yes I do.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

**Ectoplasm**

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton

Summary: She knew the accident had changed her brother, but she wasn't quite prepared for the green blood.

* * *

The first time she stumbled in on her brother treating his own wounds, he'd been in human form, and she hadn't really noticed the hints of green, too fretful over the fact that her little brother was hurt. He had groaned and kicked up a fuss when she said they should go to the emergency room, telling her that was a bad idea, and for the life of her, she couldn't understand why. She'd relented in the end only because Danny seemed so _insistent_, and because as it turned out, his head wound wasn't all that serious.

It wasn't until the second time that she caught her baby brother treating his own wounds that she realized what she had missed the first time. This time he was Phantom, floating above his bed as he worked a needle into his own flesh, sewing up a deep, vicious looking cut that went in a crescent moon shape underneath his right armpit. He had to shush Jazz quickly, so that she didn't cry out, and wouldn't wake mom and dad, not exactly wanting them to find Phantom in their son's room, using it as his base of operations while he applied first aid.

That was when she noticed that the blood seeping out still from her brother's wound wasn't blood at all- blood, generally speaking, was not _green_.

_That _was ectoplasm.

Her little brother was bleeding _ectoplasm_.

He seemed to notice what she was thinking, when he caught her open mouthed expression, and he gave her a small grin. "Yeah, it kind of took me aback the first time too." He said, continuing on about his business as if this was no big deal. How was he not freaking out? He was bleeding _ectoplasm_! Green, glowing ectoplasm, instead of red blood!

"It's not that big of a deal, Jazz." Phantom told her, glancing down towards his sister. "I am a ghost right now, after all. Bleeding ectoplasm instead of blood makes sense. Besides, if a ghost bleed red, I'm sure that would raise all sorts of questions I don't want people to think too hard about." He said, rolling his eyes a little, not wanting to know what his parents would think if they found out about a ghost bleeding red blood, instead of ectoplasm, as they should.

"How is it not a big deal?" Jazz hissed, trying to keep her voice low. "You have ectoplasm instead of blood, Danny! That's a _little _weird."

"I guess." He said, shrugging his shoulders, before wincing, realizing that this was a mistake. Right concentrate on finishing suturing up this wound first, and then worry about other things. "But I'm half ghost Jazz. I stopped being _normal _a long time ago, whether I liked it or not."

"That's..." Jazz hesitated, his words sinking into her. She knew that her brother was half ghost now, and he knew that she knew as well. Still, she hadn't been quite ready for all that this would entail. She had noticed the changes, the differences for sometime, but she had always put them to the back of her mind, trying not too hard to think about how cold her brother could be, or how his eyes faintly glowed in the dark, or how pale he had gotten...

Or, now that she thought about it, how even when he was human, there was a tint of green mixed in with his blood.

Exactly _how much _had that accident changed him anyways?

How much of Danny was still human, and how much of him was now a ghost?

"Like I said, it's _not _a big deal." Phantom assured her, grinning a little as he finished stitching up the wound, tying off the thread with practiced ease. "Although I think now maybe you understand my reluctance to go to the emergency room." He added, floating back down towards his bed, switching over to regular old Danny Fenton. He moved his arm up and down a little, testing the stitches, and seemed satisfied for the moment with them. "Oh yeah, Jazz, while you're here, care to help bandage me up a little? That's always the hard part."

"Of course." Jazz said after a moment, relieved to see that the bits of blood still dripping out from the sewed up gash were now turning to red, but she still couldn't put the image of her brother seeping green ooze from it earlier.

It was probably the first time that Jazz Fenton had really, _truly _realized that her brother wasn't entirely _human _anymore.

She wasn't sure she liked it.


	38. What Exactly is Human?

Author's Note: Something else I wrote for ectoplasm day, after seeing someone propose the headcanon that due to his healing factor, Danny might be able to grow back limbs. So, I took that and ran with it for all it was worth! This one was fun to write, which sounds weird because it's kind of depressing but oh well~.

* * *

**What Exactly is Human?**

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton

Summary: Exactly how far away from being human do you have to be to have your _limbs grow back_?

* * *

Jazz blew out warm air on her hands, rubbing them together in an attempt to stay warm. She could already feel herself start to shake from the bitter cold that had embraced Amity Park that winter- a cold snap for the ages, they said, schools were closed and nobody was really out on the streets. Everyone was huddled up inside, gathering around the warm fireplace, and staying out of the bitterly cold air outside. Snow had started to fall, which was enough to convince Jazz that she would turn back around in ten minutes and head back home if her search turned up nothing, and wait for the oncoming snowstorm to tide over before she went back out again, in search of her missing brother.

She felt her heart clench a little as she remembered what had happened three days ago, that had caused Danny to vanish seemingly into thin air. She thought it would be just another routine day for them- that is until Phantom ended up getting left his arm loped off by the Guys in White in front of the entire student body of Casper High School. Jazz had screamed and had tried to desperately race after the horrified ghost boy as he got as much distance as he could between the Guys in White and himself, but she had been held back by Mr. Lancer, who told her it was 'dangerous.'

They had _cut her brother's arm off!_

Sam, Tucker, and herself had scoured the streets of Amity Park then, desperately searching for Danny, or for Phantom, but they had found not even a single trace of him. What were they going to do? Was Danny going to be okay? He'd been injured before, but nothing this serious, nothing like _this_. What would they do? How would they explain this to their parents?

And _where _was Danny?

Three days.

He hadn't been home for three whole days, ever since that had happened. The Guys in White had collected the loped off arm, and has left, and she was deeply worried that they had managed to collect her brother as well. What if she never saw him again? What if even now, he was strapped to some lab table, being dissected and studied? Was there nothing that she could do about this?

She had told Danny that she wanted to help him, but when it had mattered most, she was just so utterly _useless_.

"Jazz."

The quiet voice, barely above a whisper, caught her ears, and she whirled to confront the source of it, relief flooding through her body when she found familiar blue eyes meeting her own, although they looked worn from lack of sleep. He didn't seem all that bothered by the cold, but she knew that something was very wrong when her relief at seeing her brother again gave way to realization that there was an expression that he didn't like to see on his face, as if he was reluctant to see her.

"Danny!" She cried out, trying to push it aside for the moment, hurrying to embrace him tightly in her arms. Oh, he was so _cold_! But she could still feel his heart beating in his chest, so he was still _alive_, at any rate. Her worst fears, the fears that he had died from his injury or that he had been captured by the Guys in White, turned to dust as she held her frigid brother tight to her chest, not wanting to let him go for all of the world.

"Oh Danny, we were so _worried _about you!" She said, letting him go, placing her hands on his face, cupping it in between them. "Where have you _been_? What about the Guys in White? Oh, and Danny your _arm_-" Her breath, however, caught in her throat as she finally found her eyes traveling towards the aforementioned left arm, and she froze in her tracks.

The material of Danny's jacket didn't hang loose from the missing arm as she thought it would, but instead it seemed as if it contained something very much intact. Danny caught her expression, and a look of almost shame crossed his face, though he quickly tried to bury it underneath one of his signature quick grins. "Yeah, about my arm..." He trailed off, pulling the fabric of his left sleeve all the way up with his right hand, laughing nervously as he held out what was underneath it for her to see. "It's growing back."

And sure enough, it was. His left arm, which had been cut off at his shoulder, now appeared as if it ended just underneath his elbow instead, the rest of it left to expose bones, that appeared to be made of solidified ectoplasm, glowing green but appearing very solid none the less. The new arm itself was a sight paler than the rest of her brother, although it was only noticeable when compared to the rest of him.

"How on earth..." Jazz stammered, reaching out to touch it, as if to confirm that this was in fact real. His left arm, which should have still been missing, was cold to the touch, and she felt Danny flinch when she clutched it too tightly. "This shouldn't be possible." She said dumbly.

"I know." Danny laughed a little, pulling the half formed arm away from her, tucking the bony hand into the pocket of his jacket. "Trust me, I know that, Jazz. But you know, it's a good thing, right?" He gave her something of a bitter laugh, clearly trying to suppress his real feelings on this issue. "Now I won't have to worry about going through life one handed. I guess I can regenerate!"

"Danny..." Jazz began, placing a hand on his right shoulder, concern flooding her eyes. Oh no, she knew what thoughts were really flying through her brother's head, he didn't even need to voice them. "It's okay Danny. It's going to be just fine." She promised him, pulling her brother close.

"Fine." Danny said shortly, shaking his head, phasing through Jazz's embrace. "Jazz, how is any of this fine? _I'm growing back an entire arm!"_ He shouted, throwing up his good arm. "That's not... that's not something normal humans do, that's not..." He turned to look at his sister again, despair and confusion evident in his eyes. "Jazz, I've known that ever since the accident, I was never going to be the same anymore, I was never going to be quite human anymore, and I thought I was starting to come to terms with that, I really did but..."

He shook his head, pulling out the half formed left arm again, eyes fixated on the bones made of solid ectoplasm. "_Look _at this thing." He told her, disgust crossing his face. "I _shouldn't_ be able to do this. It's not right, it's not human, it's just..." He turned back to his sister, desperate, pleading for someone to tell him otherwise, to turn him away from his current line of thinking. "It's a lot more like I'm some kind of monster."

"No, Danny, no." Jazz shook her head, taking the bone hand in her own, even as Danny flinched and tried to pull it away from her. She smiled at him, cupping the skeleton hand in her own. "This doesn't make you some kind of monster." She told him. "Danny Fenton, my little brother, is not a monster, he's a hero and a good kid besides that."

"I feel like a monster." Danny told her, looking away, although he ceased trying to pull his hand away from her. "This damn thing makes me _look _kind of like a monster too. I just... I thought I was more human than this, Jazz." He told her, facing his sister once again. "That's what they said, half-human, half-ghost. But I feel like I'm less human than I should be."

"You're plenty human." Jazz reassured him, letting go of his hand. "And your arm will be fine. Looking at the rest of it, it'll all go back to normal soon enough." She told him, watching as he tucked the arm back away in his pocket, hiding the bony portion from sight once again. "Look Danny, I know a lot about human nature- I study it, after all, even if I am still an amateur. And trust me, you're _human_."

"As much as I want to say that you're right Jazz, I just wish that was more apparent in the physical sense." He gave her a rueful smile. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I thought about coming home, about talking to mom and dad... but I don't want them to see this. This isn't how I want them to find out I'm Phantom, Jazz. I don't... I don't want them to think of me as less of a person."

"They wouldn't." Jazz told him softly. "And for what it's worth, Sam blurted out that you were captured by ghosts, so they have no idea where it is that you've been." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we just get you home for now, and we'll do something about your arm, okay? They don't even have to see it, Danny, if you don't want them to."

"I would _really _like to come home." Danny admitted, looking up at her. "Can I, though?" He asked, eyes drifting back towards his concealed left hand. "Can I come back?"

"Yes." Jazz told him, nodding her head, feeling her heart clench in her chest. He wasn't just asking if he could walk home with her, or something as simple as that- he was asking if he was _allowed _back home. In a place with other humans. As if he no longer felt that he belonged among them, not anymore. "You can _always _come back home, Danny. It will always _be _your home."

"Thank you." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you Jazz. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"It's okay, little brother." Jazz said, embracing him again, holding him as tight as she could, until her warmth seeped into his bones. "Everything is going to be just fine."


	39. Takeout Food

Author's Note: A drabble set in the trio's college years for the Phanneimay 'Future' day, because you can't convince me that these guys wouldn't be living together as roommates.

* * *

**Takeout Food**

Characters: Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton

Summary: It was a very serious issue for them- where would they order food from?

* * *

"I'm telling you, we need to order something from the barbeque place down the road!"

"And I'm telling you that we should order something from the vegan place up the street. Or have you already forgotten that I'm a vegetarian, Tucker?"

Danny groaned, placing his hands on his face, trying to drown out the sounds of his friends usual argument. Without fail, this happened almost every time the three of them got together for a serious study session, one way or another Tucker and Sam would find something to get into a fight about. And apparently, today's fight was about takeout food.

It was weird, in all honesty, that they managed to live together under the same roof without fighting- until it came to their cram sessions, that is. Something about being stuck in the same room for several hours, hitting the books the night before their big exams brought out the worst in his two friends. Ever since they had started college, this had been their usual routine, and in all honesty, Danny was starting to get a little sick of it.

Although he guessed it was the price he had to pay for having two friends with such differing interests.

"Yeah, well, I'm _not _a vegetarian, Sam, and neither is Danny." Tucker said, glowering at the Goth girl. "I don't want to spend the day before the midterms chowing down on rabbit food. Besides, the barbeque place has plenty of vegetarian options that you could choose from! I want some _meat_, not a goddamn salad."

"Tucker, the barbeque place only has corn on the cob and sliced carrots for vegetarian options. Those are side dishes, in case you haven't noticed. I want something a little more _substantial _than that!" Sam shouted right back, her hands on her hips as she returned Tucker's glower. "Besides, I can't stand the smell of the food from that place, it makes me want to gag! What do they do, drizzle everything in as much barbeque sauce as they can find?"

"Hey, I happen to think that aroma is wonderful!" Tucker protested, jabbing a finger towards Sam's face. "You just don't understand good food, Sam! And no wonder, considering there was a phase in your life when you actually ate grass on a bun!"

"Hey, turfwiches, are a perfectly good source of nutrients. You don't need meat, Tucker, I've said this time and time again." Sam crossed her arms, staring at Tucker's finger like she wanted to snap it off, then and there. Wisely, their bespectacled friend pulled his finger back, and away from the line of fire. "All you've done since you came to college is do nothing but drown yourself in junk food, Tucker. It wouldn't kill you to eat something healthy for once." She said, rolling her eyes. "At this rate, by the time college is over, you'll weigh three hundred pounds and Danny will have to roll you everywhere."

"Hey, I'm not rolling anyone anywhere." Danny cut in, but they weren't really listening to him, it seemed.

"Yeah, and they'll be three hundred pounds of happiness! And that'll be muscle, not fat." Tucker told her. "I've been working out, after all. That's why I need meat Sam, to fill me with much needed energy. Your leafy greens won't do that for me. I mean, look at you, your wrists look like I could snap them right off."

"I think we're forgetting which of us is the stronger here." Sam said, giving Tucker a threatening look. "Do you need a reminder, Tucker? Because I would be more than happy to give you one. Besides, I don't exactly call your morning routine of doing three pushups before giving up much of a workout."

"I'm going slow!" Tucker huffed. "Building up strength takes time you know!"

"And for you, it'll never happen." Sam grinned. "Because all you do is eat meat and junk food. You're sorely lacking in nutrients, Tuck, you should be thanking me for looking out for you this way. Besides, you make it sound like you need meat to make a dish delicious- I'll have you know that us vegetarians really know how to spice up a dish without it. If you would just give it a chance, you'd realize that."

"Meat is the food of the gods, Sam. It's what man was meant to eat." Tucker told her. "So we're going to order from the barbeque place, and that's final. Danny's with me, right buddy?" He asked, turning towards Danny.

"Oh don't even kid yourself Tucker. Danny's going to agree with me, that we should order from the vegan restaurant instead. Right, Danny?" Sam asked him, turning towards him, giving her boyfriend a look that she would be very cross with him if he sided with Tucker on this matter.

"Or, you know." Danny said simply, resting his arms on the back of his chair, looking between the both of them. "We could have skipped this entire argument and just ordered from both places." He pointed out, taking a bit of amusement from the faint blush that rose on his friend's cheeks as this option slowly dawned on them. "You didn't even think about that, did you?"

Well, he guessed that was what he was here for in the end- playing peacemaker between two polar opposites. He didn't mind too much. After all, he couldn't picture a future without his friends.


	40. The Book

Author's Note: So for phanniemay 'Mind Control' day, I wrote something of a prequel to The Witch Woman Sews, involving Sam obtaining **The Book**. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out I think I'll tinker more with this verse in the future! I do like me some horror AUs, after all.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

**The Book**

AU

Characters: Sam Manson

Summary: It found her when she needed it the most- she couldn't possibly refuse it.

* * *

She knew from the moment that she laid eyes on it that there was no turning back.

She wasn't certain how she had gotten here, in all honesty. It was true that given the fact that her home was old and rather large, that there were plenty of hidden rooms. But this one was different. Most of the other rooms were empty, filled with nothing more than dust and cobwebs. But this room- this room was different, and something told her that she should have never entered this place.

But she had been drawn here, that was the only way that she could explain it. As if something whispered gently in her ear and lead her to this place, to this library, that had been hidden within the walls of her home all this time, without anyone's knowledge. It looked as if it hadn't been used in years, everything covered with a fine layer of dusts. The books, she discerned after pulling a few off the shelves and dusting them off, were in no language that she recognized.

There was a strange, still air to this place, as if it wasn't quite connected to the rest of the world, and to be honest, it gave Sam the heebiejeebies. Danny and Tucker would surely make fun of her if she ever told them, so she decided that she would never mention this little discovery to them.

And yet in spite of the strange air, she couldn't make herself leave. There was something about the room that drew her in, made her want to study every shelf, every book in detail. She was no doubt covering herself in dust, and was just grateful that she didn't have any allergies, because she got the feeling that she would be in here for awhile.

Sam paused then, another whisper meeting her ear, faint and indiscernible. She pursed her lips, turning around, her violet eyes almost instantly catching on something that she had, strangely enough, missed before.

It lay on a pedestal, unlike all of the other books in the library. It's cover was made out of a thick, cracked black leather, with a strange pattern on the cover that she couldn't quite make out- every time she seemed to grasp it, it changed again, into something no longer recognizable. But perhaps what caught her eye the most was that **The Book** was chained, a rusting lock sealing it tight. It seemed to call out to her, and she found herself walking towards it without even thinking, as if it were pulling at something within her very blood.

"What are you?" Sam found herself whispering, gently placing a hand on **The Book's** cover. She let out a small yelp, however, when the contact caused the lock to flash, shimmering a brilliant silver before it shattered into pieces, dissolving before her and leaving no trace of it behind. She snatched her hand back, her heart pounding in her chest as she did so, the air in the room suddenly growing cold.

And she swore she felt eyes watching her.

That was when she knew that she shouldn't be here. Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from **The Book**, Sam quickly left the place, barring the entrance behind her, and headed as quickly as she could back towards the normal rooms of the house, trying to put the hidden library and **The Book** entirely from her mind.

It didn't work, it kept haunting her mind, plaguing her dreams and whispering to her that it could show her the hidden secrets of the world, that it could unlock truths she could have never even imagined. There was a dark undertone to it's voice, one that she didn't like, and she did her best to shut it out, to drown it out with other things. She wouldn't listen to it, she knew that **The Book** was something she should have never seen, and was something that she should never open.

Spending less time at home helped, at first, but soon it's voice followed her wherever she went. She thought about telling Danny and Tucker, but she thought otherwise, fearing that they would think she was crazy. So she continued to drown it out with other things, and when Danny had mentioned that his parents had built a Ghost Portal in his basement, it had caught her attention, and she had gone with him to see the grand unveiling.

But when everything had gone wrong, and when the screams of her best friend reached her ears, it was as if something broke in her mind. When she saw her best friend, charred and burned nearly beyond recognition, his face the only thing that managed to survive intact, the mental guard she had in place shattered into pieces.

**The Book** filled that void.

It whispered promises to her, promises that she would be able to return her friend to life, promises that she would never have to part with him again. It whispered to her during all hours of the day, and screamed at her during the funeral- a closed casket- until she couldn't take it anymore.

Sam went back to the room.

She picked up **The Book**.

The price, it declared, for it's vast magic, was her mind.

Sam didn't mind.


	41. No More Lies

Author's Note: Oh hey, I made a follow up to What Exactly is Human? Revelation fic with Maddie my favorite thing! Also I planned to work on an update of Dark Angel today but I totally got sidetracked with discussing a time travel story with my friends where Danny is sent back to 1948 and meets Sam's grandma, Ida, as a teenager who is a teen paranormal detective and gets roped into helping her and her friends out in exchange for Ida helping him in getting back home. It involves living!Walker and it's shaping up to be pretty interesting, and I hope to start it by this weekend!

I will attempt to write a proper chapter update tomorrow, though.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me.

* * *

**No More Lies**

Characters: Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton, Guys in White

Summary: They used to share everything, and now the only thing she gets from him is lies.

* * *

"Danny, do you have a moment?" Maddie asked, looking up as she heard her son head down the stairs. He flinched when she noticed him, and winced a little when she frowned, knowing that he had been caught.

"Sorry mom, I was about to head over to Sam's house." Danny said, and she already knew that for a lie. Almost everything that came out of her son's mouth these days was a lie. Where he was, what he was doing, who he was with... it was like he had become something of an alien to her, a stranger that she didn't know, one that just happened to look like her son.

And they used to be so close.

"Oh, I see." Maddie said, frowning a little, before shaking her head, standing up, her eyes firm. "No, actually, you're going to wait a few minutes Danny. I really do need to talk to you, young man. I'm still not entirely convinced you're okay." She told him, noticing her son wince again when she said that. It had been about five days ago now, that her son had gone missing for a three day period, only to be brought back home by Jazz.

Sam had claimed that he had been taken by ghosts, but Maddie was skeptical. At the very least, aside from appearing as if he lacked sleep and being a little hungry, her son seemed alright, sound and whole.

Well, _almost_, she thought her eyes drifting towards her son's left hand, which he had been wearing a glove over ever since he got back home. He didn't say anything about it, nothing to draw her attention to it, but the lengths he took to keep it out of sight was noticeable to her. She wasn't exactly an idiot, she knew something was going on with her son, and she was going to find out what it was.

"Are you _sure _it can't wait, because Sam is sort of expecting me. We were going to work on our homework together." Danny told her, rubbing his neck with his right hand, averting his eyes. Another lie, she thought. Her son might be lying all the time these days, but he hadn't actually gotten any better at it.

"No, it can't." Maddie said firmly, shaking her head. "It's been waiting long enough to be honest Danny. I need to have a good talk with you." She told him.

"About what?" Danny asked, but she didn't miss how he had visibly paled at her question, nor how his eyes had filled with dread. "Is it about being captured because like I told you, my memory's pretty hazy."

"It's not about that." Maddie said, shaking her head. She and Jack had asked him about that, of course they had, they had been worried sick about him, but he had been very unforthcoming. Jazz simply claimed that she found him 'wandering about in a daze'. "Why don't you come down to the lab with me Danny, and we'll have a nice talk?" She asked him. "It's the most private place in the house, at any rate."

"Okay, but I can't really see what could possibly be so important." Danny frowned, doing a pretty good job at keeping up his act of not visibly panicking. Anyone else would be fooled by it, but well, Maddie was not anyone else. He followed her down to the lab, looking everywhere but at her. He felt strangely ill at ease down here, realizing that this was the first time he had been down here since _that _had happened.

Danny wished it never had, because in spite of his sister's reassurances, he couldn't get rid of the deep sense of horror that he had ever since he first realized that his left arm was growing back. Sure, it seemed like a good thing on the surface, it would have been really hard to explain away why Danny Fenton, normal, average kid, would have had the same arm suddenly chopped off as Phantom, but at the same time, well-

He didn't feel human anymore.

He knew what they called him, half-ghost, half-human. And there were a lot of things about him that weren't normal, but he could deal with _those _things.

Not _this _though.

He couldn't deal with this.

"Mom, is this really necessary?" Danny asked, glancing around, looking about the lab. Suddenly all of the various ghost hunting equipment, scattered about the lab in various states of completion, looked far more intimidating than before. "I really do have to get to Sam's." He said again, glancing back up towards the door.

"No Danny, it is." Maddie said, turning to look at him. "Danny, honey, lately I've been noticing that you haven't be honest with your father and I, and it's worrying me." She confessed to him. "I just feel as if you're hiding something from us, and I'm worried that it's something important. I don't really like that."

"Mom, I'm not hiding anything from you." Danny told her, shaking his head, but she knew that nervous smile meant she had hit the mark. "I _promise_. I don't know where you got that idea to be honest."

"Danny." Maddie told him frankly, locking eyes with him. "I know you're lying to me." She said. "Please just stop already."

Danny opened his mouth, as if he had a retort to say to that, but he quickly shut it, looking away from his mother. He knew that he had reached the end of his rope here, but he felt less like telling her now more than he ever had in his entire life. How could he tell his mother about any of this now? He felt his left hand clench into a fist inside his pocket, eyes narrowing as he felt the unnatural feeling of bones. Most of his hand had already grown back, but his hand was still in bone form, a constant reminder of how _inhuman _he actually was.

No, Danny tried to fight off that line of thinking. That wasn't true- he _was _human. His heart still beat (but slower than it should), he breathed (except when didn't), and- this line of thinking wasn't helping him either. "Mom, I'm not..." He trailed off, searching for something, anything to say to her, but was unable to find a single thing. Should he just come clean and confess to her? He didn't have to show her anything, after all. But then, no, everyone knew that the Guys in White had taken Phantom's left arm clean off, and here her son was, clearly with a left arm.

And if her son was also Phantom, then that could only mean one thing.

"I don't... I don't know what to tell you." Danny said finally, his right hand raising up to his left arm, clenching it tightly to his body. She took notice of this action, but it would seem Danny missed it himself, unable to look at his mother. "Mom, I-"

The doorbell rang then, and Danny almost let out a sigh of relief. Oh thank God, a distraction, he thought, now glancing over towards his mother.

Maddie frowned, glowering up the stairs as the doorbell was rung a second time. Finally, she heaved a sigh, giving her son a long look, telling him that she wasn't done with him yet. "Wait right here, Danny, and I'll be right back down. I'm going to go see who that is." She said, patting her son on the shoulder lightly, as if to convey that she wasn't actually angry with him- she was a bit worried that he thought that.

"Yes?" Maddie asked, opening the door, and paused as she saw who it was. She would recognize these men- and their occupation- anywhere, and sure found herself pursing her lips, wondering what the Guys in White could want. A consultant, perhaps, she found herself thinking with some excitement- after all, she like everyone else had heard that they had obtained a rather large sample of Phantom- his left arm. What she wouldn't give to be able to study that!

"Madeline Fenton?" One of the men asked, staring down at the petite woman.

"Yes, that's me." She said, nodding her head slowly. "To what do I owe this visit? It's not everyday the government's own ghost hunters show up on your doorstep." She observed. "Can I be of some use to you gentlemen?"

"We're actually here in concerns to your son." One of the agents answered. "Is Daniel Fenton at home?"

Maddie's eyes narrowed at the question, but her facial expression otherwise remained perfectly the same. "No." She said slowly, lying through her teeth. "I'm afraid he's not home at the moment. Most likely he's spending time with one of his friends." She told them, unsure why her very first reaction had been to lie to these people. What could they want with her son, though? Somehow the idea of allowing Danny to spend any time around these people did not sit well with her, and it was something that she wanted to see to it that was to be avoided.

"What do you want with my son?" She asked, phrasing her question innocently enough. She was suspicious however, she couldn't help being so. She felt a cold chill up down the back of her spine, and she already knew from years of experience what that meant- but she said nothing and didn't react to it. The agents, it seemed, noticed nothing as well. "He's not involved in anything dangerous, is he?" She asked, lacing her voice with concern, concern that was actually quite genuine.

After all, one didn't get government agents on their door asking questions without being involved in _something _of note.

"We want to question him about his involvement with Phantom." One of the agents told her, clearly gauging her expression.

Maddie gave him nothing, even though her mind was churning a mile a minute. "I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree then, gentlemen, so to speak. My son has no connection with Phantom." She told them. "Don't you think we would _notice _if he did? I'm going to have to ask the both of you to leave, and if I find out that you, or any other members of your agency have been anywhere near my son, I'm going to have more than just _words _with you." She said, her voice carrying a threat on it, one that she was more than willing to back up.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, ma'am, we do have our orders to-" One of the officers began, but Maddie cut him short.

"I don't care about your _orders_, gentlemen. You will be conveying that to your higher ups, and you will be removing yourself from my property. Unless either of you gentlemen have a warrant of some kind?" She asked them, quirking a brow. The men exchanged a quick look and she knew that she had them. "I didn't think so. Kindly take your leave. _Now_."

"Very well." One of the agents narrowed his eyes, and Maddie promptly shut the door in their faces. It wasn't until she heard them leaving the premise that she let out a deep breath, her shoulder slumping somewhat. She shook a little, placing a hand on the door to steady herself, taking in and letting out a deep breath.

The Guys in White, for whatever reason, had their sights set on her son. Because they thought he had some kind of a connection with Phantom. Maddie wasn't a fool, she had long since suspected something like that herself- after all, as much as she hated to admit it, there were so many uncanny similarities between her son and the ghost boy. But it was the timing, more than anything, that struck a cord with Maddie.

The Guys in White had just obtained a large sample of Phantom, his left arm. It had been nearly a week since then, so they had plenty of time to study it. And now here they were, on her doorstep, asking about her son and being rather insistent about it. If she didn't miss her guess, they might just show back up later, this time with a warrant, and she wasn't entirely sure what she would do then.

The cold presence that had been lingering behind her slowly started to move, leaving her side. Her gaze slowly shifted in it's direction, and she lingered by the door a little until she could feel the cold sensation vanish altogether. She waited there, by the door, long enough until she was sure that it had returned back to the lab, and waited longer still, trying to steady herself, her brain being assaulted by a rapid fire succession of thoughts.

The only thing that didn't fit was the left arm, and Maddie's stomach clenched a little, a somewhat nauseating idea forming in her mind about that.

Taking in and letting out a deep breath, Maddie erased any traces of suspicion from her face, and headed back downstairs, where she found Danny, sitting in a chair and doing his best not to look nervous. His right hand had found it's way to his left arm again, clenching at the fabric of his long sleeved shirt. He looked up as she came downstairs, trying and failing to give her a small smile, to not let his worry and doubt show on his face.

"Oh, hey." He greeted her. "Who was that at the door?" He asked, but Maddie knew that he already knew the answer to that question.

"Just someone trying to sell something." Maddie told him, keeping her expression neutral. "I told them we weren't interested." She smiled at him, standing in front of her son, who seemed to tense a little as she approached, almost as if he expected her to strike out at him. "Now then young man, I want to see your left arm."

_That _did cause a reaction in him, and she could see the rising tide of panic in his eyes, his right hand clenching tighter around the arm in question. "Uh, why?" He asked, blinking slowly. "It's not like there's anything special about it."

"You mean other than how you've been trying to keep it out of sight ever since you came back home?" Maddie asked, lifting her brows. "I'm your _mother _Danny, I notice these things. I notice more than you possibly even know. Now let me see it. If there's nothing strange about it, then there's no reason to hide it from me in the first place, now is there?"

"Mom, please." Danny begged her, looking away again. "_Anything _but that."

"Sweetie." Maddie heaved a sigh, kneeling down so that she was at his level, placing a face on his hand. His skin was cold, always so cold, ever since he had the accident with the Fenton Portal a year ago. She had dissected cadavers before, and the icy feeling of her son's cheek reminded her more of them than it did of a living person. "It's alright, Danny. I'm your mother. That means I'm going to love and accept you, no matter what."

"Now then, let me see." Maddie quickly said, catching her son off guard as she quickly reached down, plucking the glove rather effortlessly off of his left hand. However, when her eyes fell on what it hid, it slipped from her hands, color draining from her face. Danny quickly moved to hide it inside of his sleeve, but he wasn't fast enough, wasn't fast enough to prevent his mother from seeing the glistening of bone, glowing an unnatural shade of green, a shade she was very much familiar with in her line of work.

"Oh honey." Maddie gasped out, covering her mouth with a hand, her eyes wide. "Oh _honey_." She whispered.

Danny could feel his heart pound in his chest, his left hand tightly clenched in a fist underneath the safe haven of his sleeve. The feeling of it made him want to vomit, however, the feeling of the bones entwined with each other, not a trace of skin or muscle in sight yet. And his mother, probably the last person in the world that he had wanted to see him like this, had seen that- she'd seen his hand, she had seen the glowing bone and she knew, she knew now that her son wasn't _human _anymore, wasn't _normal_, wasn't _natural_...

"Mom _please_." Danny begged, his voice so low he wasn't even sure that she could hear him. "Don't hate me."

Instead he found himself wrapped in his mother's warm arms, his head pulled close to her chest, so close that he almost couldn't breathe. "Danny, no, honey." She whispered. "I could _never _hate you, never ever." She said, shaking her head, streaming tears trickling down her cheeks. "I _love _you, Danny. I love ever part of you. I don't care... I don't care about this, or anything else, or any kind of connection that you have with Phantom. I love you, Danny."

"I'm sorry, mom." Danny told her back, finding himself unable to return the embrace just yet. "You're right, I've been keeping a lot of things from you and dad, things that I probably should have told you a long time ago. There was just never a good time, and after awhile I became so afraid to say anything because I thought... I thought..."

"You thought we would reject you." Maddie finished for him, running a hand through his hair as she pulled back. "_Never_, not in a million years Danny." She told him. "I just don't understand how any of this could have happened to you."

"It's a long story." Danny said, giving her a small smile. "Can I have the glove back now, though?" He asked, averting his eyes from her once more, that smile quickly fading.

Maddie could only lean down, snatching up the fallen glove, handing it back to her son without commentary. She wanted to say something, anything, to reassure her son- but what was she supposed to say in this instance? Dimly, it occurred to her that the Guys in White had _cut off her son's arm_- and that not long ago she had been _excited _at this prospect. No wonder then, that Danny would be afraid of telling them anything. She couldn't blame him.

"Thanks." Danny said, taking it from her with his right hand, his left still hidden from sight. There was a long pause then, as if he wanted to say something to his mother, but couldn't find the right words for it. Then slowly, he removed his left hand from his sleeve, finding himself just staring at it for a few moments. "Mom I..." He began, uncertain of what he was going to say.

"I'm not sure I know what _I am_ anymore." He whispered.

"You're Danny Fenton." Maddie told him, watching as he tugged the glove back on over his hand, noticing where strands of muscle had begun to emerge around his wrist. "My son. And that's all that really matters."

Danny looked up at her then, and the doubt in his blue eyes tugged at her heart. "I really hope that's true."


	42. I'll Be Here When You Need Me

Author's Note: A oneshot about a sick Danny and his big sister taking care of him because excuse you that's cute and you can't stop me from writing it. Also I like the idea of Danny's ghost powers affecting how he gets sick and being able to come down with ghostly illnesses.

* * *

**I'll Be Here When You Need Me**

Characters: Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton

Summary: It was official- ghost colds were the worst.

* * *

It was probably a small mercy that their parents were away on a trip over the weekend, so they couldn't see the sorry state their son was in.

Piles of tissues were scattered about his bed, and at any other time, Jazz would have lectured Danny for being too lazy to properly dispose of them. But when they were covered in glowing green phlegm, she decided that perhaps now wasn't exactly the best time. Her brother lay in a miserable heap on his bed, periodically sniffing and letting out groans of sheer misery.

Jazz Fenton hummed to herself as she heated up the soup she had bought at the deli earlier. She had nabbed whatever she could find, knowing that Danny never wanted to eat anything else when he was sick. Minestrone soup, was what she was fixing this time, he had already demolished the chicken noodle soup she had bought earlier. She brought a spoonful up to her mouth, giving it a taste, making sure it had warmed up all the way. Satisfied that it had, she smiled to herself, scooping it carefully into a bowl and placing it on a tray with a spoon and some napkins.

She made her way up the stairs of Fenton Works, just in time to hear her brother let out another loud sneeze and another groan, hearing the sound of bed springs moving as he flopped back down on the bed. "Danny?" Jazz called out as she entered the room, putting on her best smile. "I brought you some more soup. You said you were hungry, right?"

**"Thanks." **Danny turned his head towards her, his blue eyes ringed with bags. He hadn't really been able to get to sleep last night, Jazz knew, and she had stayed up with him- or she had tried to, she had found herself dozing off in her chair for several hours instead. Dimly, she realized that her brother had slipped into ghost again, but in all honesty, he had barely spoken a word of English since he had come down with his cold. She had gotten the Ghost Gabber out from storage downstairs, and had simply turned it on and placed it next to his bed after awhile, not wanting to harass him about it when he was sick. She wasn't even sure he had even noticed the Ghost Gabber was there, to be honest.

**"What kind of soup?" **Danny asked her, pushing himself up into a sitting position, resting his back against his headboard. She paused to give a brief glance at his hair, white as it usually was in his ghost form, although everything else about him appeared to be human, save for a rather green flush to his cheeks. His voice was going in and out of having an echo, she noticed, but she put it from her mind. After all, considering that her brother was half ghost, there was nothing all that strange about him getting a ghost cold of some kind.

"Minestrone." Jazz told him, setting the tray down on her brother's lap. He sniffed again, grinning at his sister in appreciation. "I sampled a little of it earlier, it's really good. How are you feeling?"

**"Like a piece of shit." **Danny chuckled, shaking his head. **"I feel a little better now that I managed to get a nap in an hour ago or so, but still, I feel like a piece of shit. And I thought regular colds were bad. This is ten times worse."**

"Oh yes, that reminds me." Jazz said. "Sam and Tucker came over while you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you, though. Sam brought over some stew her grandmother made, so I thought we could have that for dinner tonight. Think you'll be well enough to come downstairs for it then?"

**"Aw man, I missed Sam and Tucker?" **Danny groaned, before sneezing again. **"Ugh. Well, I guess I needed sleep more. I don't know about coming downstairs though, I feel like I'm going to be sick for forever at this point." **He told her, picking up the spoon and taking a spoonful of soup. **"Oh that's good though. I'm sorry I'm putting you through all this trouble though, Jazz. It's a three day weekend, I'm sure that you had plans."**

Jazz shook her head. "It's not a problem, little brother. After all, it's an older sister's job to take care of her sick siblings." She smiled at him. "Besides, I can't exactly leave you alone when your powers are going haywire left and right. It's a good thing mom and dad aren't here, otherwise I'd have a lot of explaining to do to them."

**"I hope I feel better before **they come **back." **Danny said, sniffling a little, taking another spoonful of soup. **"This is not exactly the way I would want my secret to be exposed."**

"I would imagine not. But they'll be gone for four more days, two more for their conference, and then two more to visit Aunt Alicia, since they're in that neck of the woods." Jazz reminded him. "That should give you plenty of time to recover, even if it is from a ghost cold." She said, busying herself by picking up his scattered tissues, throwing them away. At least this was one cold that she didn't have to worry about catching.

She didn't even know ghosts could get colds, to be honest, but as it turned out, they could. He had started showing signs of being sick on Friday, before their parents left, but it wasn't until Saturday morning, when she found her brother sneezing up glowing green phlegm, that Jazz knew there was something abnormal about this cold. Since then, Danny's ghost powers had been going haywire, and he had been switching in and out of ghost form, until his body seemed to have finally settled into this halfway form.

She had been learning all sorts of things about ghost illness ever since she had started to nurse her sick brother- for one thing, instead of getting a fever, a ghost cold actually lowered her brother's core temperature, causing him to shake and shiver even though it was now summer. In response, Jazz had cranked up the heat, and in order to prevent herself from melting down because of it, had grabbed a pair of shorts and a bikini top, and had tied her hair up into a ponytail. Not exactly the most _glamorous _of outfits, but she wasn't willing to pass out from the heat- and it did seem to be helping Danny, as he wasn't shivering anymore. She would lower the heat once his temperature started going back up, but for now, it was still too low to consider doing so.

**"You look kind of miserable yourself." **Danny noted, swallowing a bit more of his soup. **"You can turn down the heat if you need to Jazz, I'll be okay."**

"I'll be just fine, Danny. I have fans on downstairs to help keep me cool." Jazz told him. "I can suffer through this for a little while. It's not so bad."

**"Still, I'm sorry about all this." **Danny frowned, sniffing a bit. **"This wasn't **how I planned **on spending the three day weekend either. I was supposed to go to the water park with Sam and Tucker." **He heaved a sigh, before sneezing again, this time swearing underneath his breath in Ghost as his right hand turned intangible, sending his spoon clattering to the floor.

"And that's why I brought a second spoon." Jazz told him, picking up the said utensil. "Here, let me Danny. You've been dropping spoons right and left."

**"Jazz, come on, I'm fifteen years old, I don't need to be spoon fed by my sister." **Danny fussed, pushing her hand away and doing his best to give his sister a glower- but it came out as being rather tired looking and unimpressive as a whole.

"Oh shut up, Danny and just let me do my job." Jazz told him, dipping the spoon into the soup and hovering it by his mouth. Groaning again, Danny quickly gave in, opening his mouth and letting his sister take care of him. "There, see, that's not so bad, is it?"

**"Yeah well, just don't go **_**telling **_**anyone about this." **He grumbled, but continued to let him feed her. His ghostly aura flickered to life at some point during this, and Jazz shivered in response, finally feeling some cold air creeping into the room thanks to her brother. Still, it was a welcome change from all the heat, so she wasn't exactly going to complain.

"My lips are sealed, Danny." Jazz promised him, finishing feeding him the bowl of soup. His color looked a bit better now that he had gotten some more food in him, and the warm soup seemed to help with his sniffling a little. "You just need to concentrate on getting better. Do you want me to bring the portable TV back up here?" She asked him.

**"Oh, could you? I'm starting to get bored out of my mind here, honestly." **Danny rolled his eyes. **"I'm too sick to do anything constructive, but not sick enough to content to do nothing."**

"Isn't that the worst?" Jazz asked, nodding her head sympathetically, before taking the tray from her brother. "I'll go put this down in the kitchen then, and bring that right up. Is there anything else you need while I'm down there?" She asked him, getting to her feet.

**"More tissues? I'm starting **to run out **here." **He told her after a moment. **"I think the worst part of this all is that the stuff glows. Because that's not gross at all." **He said, rolling his eyes, his ghostly aura flickering for a moment before vanishing again.

"Yeah, I won't lie little bro, that is pretty nasty. It's a good thing you held off on starting all that until mom and dad left. They would have never gone out of the house if they saw something like that. Probably would have tried to break out the Fenton Ghost Catcher again."

**"And that is something I never want near me ever again." **Danny grimaced, in spite of himself. **"And... again, Jazz, thank you for taking care of me. I know I might not say it a lot, but I do appreciate it. You looking out for me, you know." **He told her, sniffing again, before plucking a tissue out of the box, blowing his nose into it. **"I'm glad you know my secret now, in all honesty. I would have been screwed more than once if you didn't."**

"You don't need to thank me, Danny." Jazz told him, shaking her head. "That's what sisters are for, after all. I'll _always _be here when you need me." She told him, smiling. "Oh that reminds me. Skulker actually stopped by too while you were napping."

**"Wait, what!?" **Danny's blue eyes went wide in alarm. **"Why didn't you say anything, Jazz?"**

"Relax, it wasn't that big of a deal." Jazz told him. "When I told him you were sick, he lost interest pretty quick. No good hunting pretty that won't be interesting or something. He said he was going to bring some Ghost Zone medicine or something for you, though he wasn't sure how well it would work on a half ghost. Isn't that nice of him?"

**"I'm not sure how much I trust anything Skulker offers." **Danny admitted, looking skeptical. He let out another sneeze then, swearing underneath his breath as he found himself turning a portion of his sheets into a block of ice. **"Ugh, not again. Can I get some new sheets too, Jazz?"**

"Not a problem. Anyways, I wouldn't worry about the medicine. Skulker said he owed me one for helping him out with his relationship issues with Ember the other day anyways." Jazz told him.

**"Oh well, I guess that's a little more reassuring." **Danny frowned a little still, inherently wary of any help offered to him by his usual enemies. **"Skulker does generally keep his word, at least."**

"Then I'll be right back with the tissues, the portable TV, and the clean and... unfrozen sheets." Jazz told him, nodding her head. She hummed to herself as she headed downstairs, setting aside the tray to wash everything on it in a few minutes, and went about gathering up what her brother had asked her for. As she was gathering a clean bed sheet for Danny, she heard an extremely loud sneeze from upstairs, before the house violently shook for a few moments, causing Jazz to yelp and crouch down, wondering if they were suddenly having an earthquake.

Once the shaking died down, Jazz quickly hurried upstairs, wasting no time to check in on her brother. "Danny, are you okay? The whole house shook for... a... second." She slowly found her eyes traveling towards the wall that separated her room from her brother's room- or the wall that had, considering that there was now a gaping hope in between the two of them, rubble collapsing down even as she spoke.

Danny turned back towards her, his cheeks flushing bright green, this time more out of embarrassment than illness. **"...**_**Apparently **_**my ghostly wail is going haywire too. Uh... sorry about your wall, Jazz."**


	43. They've Got Questions They Want To Ask

Author's Note: A wild follow up fic to What Exactly is Human? and No More Lies appears! I'm pretty pleased with this one as a whole really, although I didn't originally plan for it to uh, end _that_ way, it just sort of happened. This fic is for Phanniemay, Day 29, Talent Trade, so it's inspired by a picture that tumblr user shsl-bad-luck did of the Guys in White coming to question Danny about his association with Phantom.

* * *

**They've Got Some Questions That They Want to Ask**

Characters: Danny Fenton, Guys in White, Mr. Lancer

Summary: He had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to avoid them forever.

* * *

"Daniel James Fenton?"

The voice alone was enough to make freeze, a bolt of fear running through him. He would know that voice anywhere, after all, they all spoke in that same authoritative tone, devoid of any real emotion. He had joked with Tucker and Sam about it at first, making jokes about them really being robots, but now, somehow, that voice was terrifying. All he wanted to do was pull his jacket's hood closer about his face and sink into the ground, anything to avoid what was coming next.

But instead he turned to face them, staring down the two nearly identical agents. The only thing that set the pair apart was the color of their skin, as if the Guys in White recruited only lookalikes to staff their agency. "The Guys in White, right?" Danny asked, trying to bite back his fear. "Uh, can I help you two?"

"We have some questions we need to ask you in regards to your association with known spectral menace, Phantom." The other agent told him, holding up a sheet of paper that Danny knew right away was a warrant. His mother had told them to come back with one, but really, he hadn't expected them to approach him at his school, instead of at home. He guessed that they wanted to avoid his mother, which would be funny, if the situation was not so serious.

"My association?" Danny asked them, putting on his best befuddled expression. Just his luck to be confronted when there weren't any people around- everyone else had already gone home for the day, including Sam and Tucker, but Danny had to stay behind to get a packet of work he had missed from the last week. "What, you mean by being the son of two ghost hunters?" He asked them. "I've never really even so much have been in the same room as Phantom. I'm not really sure what it is that you two gents expect me to know about Phantom, but I think you're kind of asking the wrong kid. Have you tried Paulina? I know she gets her butt saved by Phantom like, once every two weeks or something. She might know something about him."

"We've already spoken to the Sanchez girl, and the only thing we got from her was how dreamy the ghost kid was." One of the agents rolled his eyes. "I'm Operative O, and this is Operative K. You can either come with us quietly, or we can use force. We've been authorized to deal with you either way."

That settled any doubts that Danny might have had about the extent of the Guys in White's knowledge about him. They might not know the why, how, or what of it, but they were certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that Danny Fenton had connections with Phantom. He had one of two options now- he could try and make a break for it, and cement this idea, or he could go with them peacefully, and he could attempt to talk his way out of this. Still, he didn't like the idea of being lead off to who knows where by the Guys in White, so after a moment's consideration, he gave them his best grin, hoping that they didn't notice he was afraid.

"Sure, I'll go peacefully. I don't have anything to hide, after all." Danny told them. "But on one condition- we'll be having this conversation _inside _of the school." He said, locking eyes with the one holding the warrant, challenging him to say anything otherwise. "Or I'll call my mom."

That did make the agent, K, Danny recalled, flinch, just like he thought it would, and the man could been seen narrowing his eyes underneath his sunglasses. "Very well. But someplace private." He turned to his partner then. "Operative O, go acquisition the use of a teacher's office."

O nodded his head shortly, before heading towards what Danny knew was Mr. Lancer's office. The boy narrowed his eyes for a moment, for the first time noticing that he seemed to be carrying some kind of metal briefcase with him, suddenly feeling strangely more ill at ease. He could almost feel a faint tug towards it, and found himself clenching and unclenching his left hand in response, a tingle running up his newly regrown arm. He didn't exactly _like _that feeling.

At the very least, his left arm had regrown in full now, leaving no trace of the gut wrenching bones in sight. It was a little awkward and hard to move at times, and he still didn't have full control over his grip strength (he had crushed a glass just this morning without meaning to), but at the very least, it looked like a human arm again. His mother had agreed to hold off on talking with Jack until his arm had recovered, and until Danny was ready, for which he was grateful.

Now though, he could probably _use _one of his father's overly boisterous interruptions.

Apparently, requisitioning the use of the office meant forcing the previous occupant out, and it wasn't long until a very disgruntled Mr. Lancer was forced out of his office. When he saw who it was the Guys in White wanted to talk to, his eyes widened in surprise, before narrowing again, turning towards Operative O. "What exactly do the two of you want with Daniel Fenton? I'll have you know he's one of my students, and I don't intend to let some shady government officials talk to him without the presence of any other adults."

"We have a warrant." K told him shortly, holding up the piece of paper for Mr. Lancer to read. The vice principal all but snatched it from the man, reading it over, his grip on the paper growing tighter and his expression angrier as he read.

"_Fahrenheit 451! _You got a warrant to question a barely fifteen year old boy?!" Mr. Lancer demanded, shoving the warrant back into K's face. "He's a teenage boy, not a criminal!" He told them, placing a firm hand on Danny's shoulder. For once, Danny actually felt almost glad to have Mr. Lancer around- he had to admit, he didn't exactly expect him to put up this much of a fight. "Give me one good reason why I should leave him alone with the two of you."

"Because we're currently authorized to arrest anyone who gets in our way." Operative O told him sternly, eyes narrowing. "We only want to ask him some questions, after all."

"If the only thing you want to do with the boy is ask him a few questions, then I don't understand why such a warrant is needed." Lancer narrowed his eyes. "I'm not letting you take Daniel Fenton _anywhere_, Gentlemen. If you want to ask him questions, you can do so with me, or another member of the staff present, but I refuse to leave him alone with you."

"Very well then." K narrowed his eyes, handing the warrant over to his partner. "Then as I am currently authorized to do so, I'll be placing you under arrest." He told him, pulling out a pair of handcuffs that Danny couldn't help but wonder where he had been keeping them.

"Wait, no, hold up!" Danny protested. He couldn't let them arrest Lancer, after all. "Mr. Lancer, it's okay. I'll be fine, _really_. They... just want to ask me a few questions after all. I'm sure this is all just some sort of government required formality." He told him, grinning at him, though he knew that it faltered a little. "There's no need to arrest him, Operative K, was it? He's _just _trying to do his job, just like the two of you."

"Mr. Fenton, these two don't have the right-" Lancer began, but Danny cut them off.

"They have a warrant. Technically, they do." Danny shrugged his shoulders. "But I'll be fine, Mr. Lancer, promise. Why don't you just go and grade some papers or something?" He asked him, before turning back to the two operatives. "Alright then, so why don't I get to answering those questions of yours? Because I have a lot of homework to take care of and I want to get on it as soon as I can."

The two operatives exchanged glances, but K eventually put away the handcuffs, not before giving Mr. Lancer a long look before they lead Danny into his office, locking the door behind him. Operative O placed the metal briefcase down at Lancer's desk, while K took a seat in the man's chair. Danny took the only other seat in the cramped office, and found Operative O moving to stand in front of him. Without much warning he grabbed both of Danny's hands, clamping a glowing pair of handcuffs over them before he even knew it.

"Just a precaution." O gave him a cold smile as Danny gritted his teeth, tugging against them, before he went to stand in front of the door, blocking his only avenue of escape. Danny could feel his powers being blocked off by the cuffs, which didn't seem to want to come loose.

"Do you know why you've been brought here?" K asked him, locking eyes with the half ghost.

"No, not really. I've got even less of an idea as to why you two _cuffed _me." Danny shook his head, trying to look rather helpless, even though anger was broiling inside of him. Didn't he have rights? "To be honest, I'm a bit lost about all of this. I don't have any association with Phantom, other than being the son of two people who hunt him. Other than that, I've never even talked to the guy. I'm sort of confused as to what kind of connection the two of you think that I have with him."

"You can cease the act, kid." K told him shortly, eyes narrowing. "We know _all about_ your connection to Phantom. Your parents are bigger fools than we thought, if they can't tell that their own son is a ghost."

Danny blinked, laughing a little. "In case you guys haven't noticed, I'm _alive_." He said, holding up his hands, as best he could when they were bound together. "I'm not a ghost. Those are _dead_, remember? I think someone would have noticed by now if I was actually undead. And I _don't_ have any connection to Phantom."

"Mmhm." K said simply, raising his brows, before standing up, and unclasping the briefcase. What Danny saw inside of it was enough to make his hands fly up to his mouth, biting back a tide of vomit that rose up to it. A shudder ran down his spine, and he suddenly became all too aware of his own left arm, it suddenly starting to feel as if it were a stranger to him all over again, feeling a throb of pain running through it.

"T-that's an arm." Danny stammered, swallowing back his own bile, unable to bring his eyes away from what the briefcase contained. Clad partially still in a white glove and black hazmat suit, was Phantom's left arm, the one that the Guys in White had severed about a week or so ago now. There were scars and stitch marks on it that indicated that it had been dissected and studied thoroughly. The more he became aware of this, the more his own left arm began to hurt, and the more aware of it being alien to his body he became, suddenly feeling the overwhelming compulsion to do anything to just _get it off _of him.

In response, Phantom's arm in the case jerked against the straps holding it down, and Danny nearly yelped when he realized this, clamping his right hand back over his mouth. His newly grown left arm seemingly refused to move, as if his brain had already convinced itself that it wasn't his to move, while the one lying confined in the case was.

"Having problems with your left arm, kid?" Operative O asked from the door, a smug look on his face that all but told Danny that they _knew _they had checkmate. "That's too bad. You know, we have some doctors back at headquarters who could look into that matter for you. After all, our records indicate that you haven't had any medical checkups for the past two years- you shouldn't neglect your health like that."

"Our records also indicate that you took a week off of school after Phantom got his arm cut off. Three of those days you were missing entirely for." K related to him, leaving the case wide open, though his hand lingered tauntingly on the top of it, as if well aware of the pain that it was causing Danny to experience. "You really _do _look like you're in quite a bit of pain, kid. That's funny, I can't think of anything that could have triggered that."

Danny's eyes narrowed, gritting his teeth, for a moment being in too much pain to give them a response. Phantom's arm in the case continued to jerk and struggle inside of the case, trickles of ectoplasm bleeding anew from various areas on the arm, that had been cut open. Danny could feel cold steel sliding across his left arm, as if he were reliving a dissection that the rest of him hadn't been around for, could feel people picking apart his arm and prodding inside of it, studying every last bit of it.

"The thing is, kid, that when we did a very through study of this arm, we discovered some pretty interesting things about Phantom. Namely that he has DNA." K told him. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that ghosts aren't supposed to have that. Truth be told kid, we've had suspicions about you for the past couple of months, so when one of our researchers decided to compare it up to a sample that we discreetly obtained of your own, we found that it matched exactly to yours."

K stood up, and Danny could hear the faint whirr of an ectogun being charged from behind him, glancing over towards Operative O, realizing that he had pulled one out from his coat. "Still want to go on about you have no connection to Phantom?" K asked him, pulling out his own ectogun, pointing it towards Danny's head.

Gritting his teeth, Danny tried to force back the pain he was experiencing, trying to convince himself that he had no reason to be feeling this. That thing in the case wasn't his arm anymore, and what was currently attached to his body was now the real thing. His left arm finally twitched in response, growing more responsive, but it felt no less alien or unreal, and it didn't manage to chase the pain away, not entirely. The cuffs biting into his current left arm and reminding him that it was very real helped a little, oddly enough.

"I thought this was just going to be questions." Danny said, forcing himself to grin. "I don't know what kind of crap scientist you have, but yeah, I'm going to go on saying I've got no connection to Phantom, because I_ don't._" He glanced between the two, narrowing his eyes. "Shouldn't you point those things elsewhere? I've got rights you know, and I'm pretty sure one of them includes not having dangerous weapons pointed at me when I'm unarmed."

"You might want to read the terms of your own warrant, Phantom." Agent K told him, thrusting the sheet of paper in Danny's face, and for the first time, he took a good look at it, suddenly realizing what had made Mr. Lancer so angry. "We would have approached you sooner, but it took a little longer for us to convince the higher ups to have your basic rights suspended. We might have given you a choice earlier, kid, but at the end of the day, there's only one thing that's going to happen to you- you're going to come with us."

"I don't think so." Danny shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "Warrant or no warrant, I'm not going _anywhere _with the two of you, and I'm _not _going anywhere with the Guys in White period. You can't do this to me- I'm human, you know." He told them, in spite of this having been something he had been questioning himself about lately, in spite of the fact that it was printed in black and white on the warrant that Operative K still had thrust in his face, along with the ectogun that was now far too close to his skull for his liking.

Daniel James Fenton, alias Phantom, was no longer considered to be _human _anymore, and thus no longer was in possession of human rights. If the Guys in White wanted to abduct him here and now, there was nothing that anyone could do to stop them.

"You don't really have a say in that matter." Operative K informed him, tucking the warrant back inside his jacket. "On your feet, Phantom. We're taking you back to headquarters with us, where we've got a nice little cell waiting for you already."

Danny's eyes narrowed, and the smug look on the faces of the two operatives grew as they noticed that they were glowing green. Clenching his left hand, which was finally agreeing with him again, Danny got to his feet.

"That's the right choice." Agent K told him, his ectogun still trained on Danny's head. No doubt that he would fire it at the first sign of resistance.

Which was why he had to make this quick.

"Don't you need to bring your case with you?" Danny asked, keeping his voice low, his eyes fixed on the floor, trying to give them both an impression of defeat. Let them think that they had won this round. Truth be told, Danny wasn't sure what he would after this point, and he was desperately trying not to dwell on what it meant for him now that his human rights had essentially been signed away. He had been debating back and forth if he was still really human ever since his arm had started growing back, but apparently, this had already been decided for him.

He wasn't.

But like hell that meant that he was just going to give in without a fight.

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me." Operative K said, turning away for a moment. Operative O looked as well, and the second that both men's attention was off of him, Danny clenched his fists, slamming his knee as hard as he could into the pit of Operative K's stomach.

The man's eyes went wide as he doubled over in pain, the air rushing out of him. His grip remained on his ectogun, however, and Danny gritted his teeth, kicking it out of his hand, before yelping avoiding a blast from Operative O's gun. Before Operative K could recover, Danny swept him off his feet with one leg, ducking out of the way as Operative O fired off more rounds. K collapsed to the ground, hitting his head hard against the cold floor of Lancer's office. In any other situation, Danny might actually be concerned about that, but at the moment, he couldn't manage to find it inside of him to be.

"That's it, Phantom, we're doing this the hard way." He could vaguely hear Operative O say, but Danny didn't really register this. He was in fight mode, every muscle itching to get away. Barely dodging another shot from O's ectogun- the Guys in White _had _been getting better, it seemed- Danny closed the gap between the two of them, aiming a kick square to the man's jaw, hearing a rather loud crack as his foot connected. O's eyes went wide, the pain of a broken jaw briefly overriding his senses, and Danny took that time to go for the door, opening it up in a hurry and dashing out of Lancer's office. Grunting, he fought against the cuffs more, but to his frustration, they wouldn't budge, releasing a shock every time he tried to use one of his powers.

He had been too careless, thinking that staying in the school building would allow him any measure of safety. He could hear K and O getting to their feet in the background, but chose to ignore it, making a mad dash for the front door. He slammed it open hard, coming out to face blue skies-

And an entire blockade of Guys in White agents, ectoguns all trained on him, and half the town watching. Around the school, a ghost shield had been set up, and he had a hunch this wasn't one he could just pass through on merit of being half human. Dimly he was aware of someone screaming his name in the background, only to be dragged off by one of the Guys in White, only realizing after she was slammed into a police car that it was Jazz. Shortly thereafter, he heard another confrontation, and in any other situation, he was would be surprised to find that Dash Baxter was at the center of it, trying to bum rush some of the Guys in White in an attempt to break the blockade, before he too was forced to the ground and handcuffed, tossed into a police car.

On his shoulder, he could feel the tight grip of Operative O's hand, his nails biting into Danny's skin as he used his other hand to nurse his broken, bloody jaw.

"Now then." Operative K spoke up, training his ectogun on the back of Danny's head. "Take a good long look at the outside world, Phantom, because it's the _last _time you'll ever be seeing it."


End file.
